The multinational has announced investments of $31 million to expand its plant in Cartago and open a new service center in Heredia.
From a press release by the Ministry of Foreign Trade:
With an investment of $31 million, the company Kimberly-Clark (KC) will strengthen its manufacturing operations and services in Costa Rica. The company will invest $27 million in its new plant in Coris, Cartago, plus an additional $ 4 million for a new Shared Service Centre located in Heredia and which will support its business network throughout Latin America.
The authorities at customs offices in Guatemala and Honduras have opened new routes for regional transit of goods between the two countries.
The aim of the opening of new routes at the borders between the two countries, in El Florido and Agua Caliente, is to streamline regional trade which has been blocked because of the protests over the application of a fee of $18 in Salvadoran customs offices for X-ray inspection of trucks.
The Japanese market for pork, organ meats, sausages and pork derivatives coming from Costa Rica has reopened.
The next step in the process is identifying companies interested in exporting pork products to the Asian nation.
From a press release issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock:
"After a process that began in 2012 under the framework of the objectives of the National Swine Commission, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan recently announced to the authorities of the National Animal Health Service (SENASA) at the Ministry of Agriculture, that this country recognizes the status of Costa Rica as a country free of swine fever and has reopened its market not only pork, but also offal and other derivatives as well as pork sausages."
A dispute over the failure to implement tariff benefits on the part of El Salvador on tires and juices exported by Costa Rica has not been resolved using other methods.
The Costa Rican Minister of Foreign Trade, Anabel Gonzalez confirmed that on January 20th El Salvador will be taken to court for not applying the tariff benefits negotiated in the FTA between the U.S., Central America and the Dominican Republic on tires and juices.
In 2013 43 foreign high technology companies invested in the country.
From a press release issued by the Costa Rican Coalition for Development Initiatives (CINDE):
Costa Rica ended 2013 with good news in the area of attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in high technology and light manufacturing. The country became host to 43 new investment projects which generated, along with the companies who set themselves up there, $583 million and 7,123 new jobs in the sectors of services, life sciences and advanced and light manufacturing.
Exporters of dehydrated ethanol claim that the U.S. is applying an ad valorem tax of 2.5% which is outside of the provisions of DR-CAFTA.
According to Anabel González, the Minister of Foreign Trade (Comex), Costa Rica has not exported the product during the second half of 2013, because the annual quota for receiving the benefits is 31 million gallons.
A new regulation imposes more requirements, more costs and creates more bureaucracy for SMEs who produce food for the local market.
From a press release issued by the Costa Rican Chamber of Food Industry:
"The Costa Rican Chamber of Food Industry (CACIA by its initials in Spanish) is requesting the Government to suspend regulations of the National Animal Health Service (SENASA) that are in process.
The Latin America-China Business Summit was held on November 26th and 27th in Costa Rica with more than 1,200 employers in regions with growing commercial exchanges.
Chinese and Latin American entrepreneurs gathered for two days for business meetings, contributing to increased trade in Latin America with the Asian country, which is already a commercial destination of prime importance for this region.
With an investment of $5 million Gualapack Costa Rica has opened a manufacturing and distribution center for flexible packaging for food industry mixtures.
A press release from Costa Rican Coalition for Development Initiatives (CINDE) reads:
Gualapack Costa Rica, member of Grupo Gualapack today officially opened the doors of its modern manufacturing plant and distribution center for flexible packaging for food industry mixtures.
Foreign direct investment in the country rose by 15%, while in the free zones where businesses are exempt from income tax, the growth rate was 53%.
During the first half of 2013 free zones received $360 million while in the same period of 2012 the figure was $235 million, which is an increase of 53%.
According to information from the Central Bank of Costa Rica, "in general, FDI in the first half rose by 15% compared to the same period in 2012 and amounted to $1.335 billion, strengthening its growth after the drop of 2009 " reported Nacion.com.
The Costa Rica customs system is overwhelmed and needs to an overhaul which is to be funded by a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank.
The operating system has been congested since 2005 and is slow to process manifests and unloading documents. It also has problems with tracking or monitoring the transit of goods, said Gerardo Bolaños, director of Customs.
On 26 and 27 November, the Hotel Real Intercontinental in San Jose, Costa Rica will host a business meeting between China and Latin America.
The China Latin America and the Caribbean Business Summit is the most important business meeting for trade and investment between Latin America and the Asian giant, which seeks to promote and strengthen trade and investment opportunities which have opened up between China and Latin America in recent years.
Services exports have grow by 7.7%; during the first six months of 2013 they totaled $2.9327 billion.
From a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Trade (Comex):
The successful attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI) has consolidated the participation of Costa Rican exports services. During the first half of the year, Costa Rican exports of services accounted for $2.9327 billion, showing a growth of 7.7% compared to the same period in 2012, while FDI reached $1.3353 billion.
The Council of the European Union has approved Costa Rica's entry into the Association Agreement between Central America and the European Union.
From a press release by the Ministry of Foreign Trade (Comex):
The European Union Council today unanimously approved Costa Rica's entry into the Association Agreement between Central America and the European Union (CAAA).