The announcement of a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping with trade authorities from his country, reaffirms expectations that trade between the two countries will continue to grow.
However, in the view of the executive director of the Costa Rican Chamber of Importers, Distributors and Representatives (Crecex), Luis Fernando Monge, although Jinping's visit to Costa Rica next week guarantees the country will become better known across the board, Crecex does not expect that the ruler will be accompanied by private entrepreneurs interested in doing business with Costa Ricans, although there are some expectations in that regard.
Two Costa Rican meat processing plants have received authorization from the Chinese authorities to export beef to the Asian country, and another two received minimal observations.
China's support for the export of beef by the companies El Arreo y Visión Comercial was reported last week by the authorities of the National Health Service. Ligia Quirós, director of the department of the Ministry of Agriculture, and Andrei Barquero, Commercial Vision representative, confirmed the news.
The Free Trade Agreement between Costa Rica and China will come into effect on August 1, 2011.
The Costa Rican Ministry of Foreign Trade has indicated that they have fulfilled all the necessary operating procedures and exchange of diplomatic documents corresponding to the FTA with China which goes into effect on 1 August.
"China is the second largest importer in the world after the United States, it has a growth rate above 9%, its consumption capacity is increasing and it there is diversity of tastes and preferences, which means great opportunities for our country. We must now try to the get the maximum advantage from it, for which we have been preparing through the Foreign Trade Promotions (PROCOMER) office in Beijing and in San Jose through close coordination with other government agencies to ensure the agreement’s proper implementation", said Minister of Foreign Trade, Anabel Gonzalez.
Two state banks are trying to take advantage of new trade relations between Costa Rica and China.
Banco de Costa Rica and Banco Nacional, two of the largest banking institutions in the country are reviewing their strategies to incorporate specific services to companies wishing to export to China.
The free trade agreement recently signed between China and Costa Rica will allow a number of Costa Rican products to enter the Chinese market duty free, which is expected to generate increased exports.
The summit, which attracted about 200 businessmen from both countries, seeks to cement trade relations.
Business appointments are made based on interests presented by Chinese entrepreneurs in sectors such as industry, food, construction, technology and meat.
Additionally, the conference promotes Costa Rican exports with 11 booths which allow attendees to taste products such as palm and coffee liqueur.
With participation from businessmen of both countries on March 24, 25 and 26, the summit will be held in San José, Costa Rica.
This was announced today by officials from the Ministry of Foreign Trade (COMEX), the Promotora de Comercio Exterior (PROCOMER) and the Costa Rican Coalition for Development Initiatives (CINDE), who emphasized that the primary objectives of the meeting is to strengthen trade and investment opportunities between the two countries, taking advantage of the inauguration activities of the National Stadium.
The food industry reports monopolies in commodities like liquefied gas, high tariffs on imports and over-regulation.
The Costa Rican Chamber of Food Industry maintains strong opposition to the coming into effect of the Free Trade Agreement with China and asked the members of the Legislature to reject the signing of this and other trade agreements, until the country has solved a large number of structural weaknesses which hinder the development of competitiveness and innovation of Costa Rican companies.
The chamber of Industries congratulates Laura Chinchilla as the next president of Costa Rica, and states the key issues for the sector.
“We welcome Laura Chinchilla, hoping her future Government improves job quantity and quality, always moving towards a more equal Costa Rica, but also more competitive and capable. We offer our support to work together in defining the road to place the country among the top generators of opportunities”, stated Juan María González, president of the Chamber of Commerce.
In the negotiations for a FTA, Costa Rica renounced to applying safeguard and anti-dumping measures to China.
Juan González, president of the Chamber of Industries of Costa Rica, renewed its criticism on how the Commerce Ministry (Comex) handled the negotiation process with China. According to Nacion.com, he remarked that: "long before sitting on the table, the negotiation was not balanced, and Comex accepted it.
Six negotiation rounds have already taken place, and the last one has been scheduled for February 2010.
Marco Vinicio Ruiz, Commerce Minister, explained that this administration wants to conclude the process before the end of President Oscar Arias' term on May 2010.
From Elsalvador.com: "'After the next round, the following step is the legal revision of the treaty, in order to sign it on March.
The Chamber of Industries reduced from 28% to 25% the number of tariff lines to exclude from the free trade agreement.
6.600 tariff lines are included in the Free Trade Agreement negotiation between Costa Rica and China. The Costa Rican Chamber of Industries had initially requested excluding 28% of them, but has now lowered its request to 25%.
"What we've done is to sharper our pencils, as we are willing to cooperate with the negotiating team, specially for some lines which include a product and its parts. This does not mean that the chamber has altered its opposition to the negotiation scheme of this FTA", said Juan María González, president of the Chamber, according to Nacion.com.