Building the new airport in Orotina, expanding the route to Puerto Caldera, building the San José-San Ramón highway and simplifying procedures for doing business are some of things that China requires before setting up a Special Economic Zone in the country.
The study to determine the country's feasibility to host a special Chinese economic zone was suggested by the Chinchilla administration in 2014, but its results have only now become available, due to, according to former Costa Rican ambassador to China, Marco Vinicio Ruiz, bad management on the part of the current administration.
Progress is being made on an agreement for freedoms of the air to boost tourism between the two countries by increasing air links.
A Costa Rican delegation composed of the chief of Tourism, Allan Flores and Ana Cristina Jenkins, Deputy Minister of Transport is currently visiting the Asian nation negotiating the agreement.
"There has been a lot of hard work done between the aviations bodies of each country, we have had discussions with airlines to stimulate interested in the route and in April a delegation of Costa Rica tourism entrepreneurs was in China," said Costa Rica's ambassador in Beijing, Marco Vinicio Ruiz.
Next September a delegation of 100 Chinese entrepreneurs will be in the country looking for business, and in November the China-Latin America Business Summit will attract about 1,000 Asian and Latin American entrepreneurs.
According to the Ambassador of Costa Rica to China, Marco Vinicio Ruiz, the delegation of 100 businessmen will come from Zhejiang, one of China's most industrialized provinces, meaning that it will open up important investment opportunities. The group will be headed by the Governor of the province, Lu Zushan.
Other projects such as candy, pastas and sausages were also left out of the agreement.
On the plus side, smashed banana, orange and pineapple juice, tuna and palm hearth, among others, are products that will be able to enter the EU with zero tariffs.
“Mario Montero, executive director of the Food Industry Chamber, explained that the general situation is positive”, published Elfinancierocr.com.
Today, while touring the Middle East, Costa Rican Trade Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz signed a Free Trade Agreement with Singapore.
It must now be ratified by the Costa Rican Legislative Assembly.
Expectations run high for increased trade with Singapore in Costa Rica, as the Asian country is a large importer of food and agriculture goods. It also boasts a very large purchasing power per capita, close to $36.000 for its 4.5 million inhabitants.
The project consists of developing residential centers which include integral health care services.
It is intended for foreign retirees, and would include nursery, domestic and transportation services.
“Their promoters claim that it involves the development of other activities such as advanced research centers, high value entertainment, theme parks and pharmaceutical industries”, reported Laprensagrafica.com.
Both countries confirmed the agreement, after finally finding common ground in the last remaining issue: financial services.
In the last negotiation round, which took place in Costa Rica from January 8th to 15th, both parties accorded all the texts of the treaty. The only issue remaining was a pending proposal related to investment services, which was solved later via phone communication between both Ministers.
Improved climate and a tariff reduction by the European Union for banana could lift exports for both products.
During 2009, adverse climate affected the coffee harvest, and the price of banana dropped, causing exports of both goods to fall 31.5% and 14.9% respectively.
"The agreement reduced the tariff paid by Latin American banana from €176 to €148. ... It must still be approved by all the involved governments", reported Prensalibre.cr.
Benita Ferrero-Waldner, EU's Trade commissar, said she is pleased with the inclusion of Panama in the agreement.
The involved parties hope to sign the Agreement on May 18th, in Madrid, Spain.
"Marco Ruiz, Costa Rica Commerce Minister, said that 'we support the inclusion of Panama, they have been taking part in the meetings. Costa Rica considers that the participation of Panama as very important, as it is one of the strongest economies of the region", reported Univision.com.
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 agreement between Europe and Latin America generated optimism, but ACP countries and the U.S. must still be pleased.
Latin America accepted an offer by the European Union to gradually reduce the tariff applied to banana imports from 176 euros per ton to 114 euros in 2017.
This reduction will negatively affect African, Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACP), to whom Europe will compensate with $280 million in development aid.
The entrance of 25 Costa Rican products and 200 Chinese will be defined in the last negotiation round of the FTA between both countries.
Commerce ministers from both nations will take part in the last negotiation round of the Free Trade Agreement, in order to define if Costa Rican coffee and sugar can enter China, and if Chinese industrial products will enter Costa Rica.
The fifth negotiation round for a Free Trade Agreement between both countries starts this week.
Technical teams from both countries have scheduled an intense agenda for the week. They want to reach agreements in several chapters such as Technical Obstacles to Commerce, Health Measures, Cooperation, Dispute Settlement and Market Access.
In this encounter, the parties will also be able to discuss parallel agreements in labor and environmental matters.
"The European Union will not admit a mandate change for Central America to negotiate without Honduras".
Such were the words of Marco Vinicio Ruiz, Costa Rican Commerce Ministry, "who had insisted on that idea with his homologous in the region", according to PrensaLibre.cr.
EU's decision will stagnate, for a second time, negotiations between the isthmus and the European Union.