After the Mayor of Alajuela filed an action of unconstitutionality in Costa Rica to revert the exoneration of real estate taxes applicable to free trade zones, the business sector believes that legal certainty is being undermined.
On March 16, 2021 Humberto Soto, Mayor of the municipality of Alajuela, filed an action of unconstitutionality. This legal recourse has the objective of reverting the exemption that free zones enjoy for the payment of the real estate tax.
America Free Zone, located in Heredia, Costa Rica, plans to execute an investment plan in the next few years totaling close to $120 million and contemplates the implementation of electro-lane stations and the construction of new infrastructure.
Executives of the business complex informed that up to now they offer their clients 200 thousand m2 of space for business activities, but the medium-term plans are to add another 60 thousand m2.
In front of national and foreign investors, President Hernández presented a program that will confer special legal status on delimited areas in coastal departments, which already has legislative approval.
From various announcements made by the Presidency of Honduras:
In the act of the project launch by President Hernández, eight international firms today presented their letters of expression of interest to the Government to be part of the Employment Zones; the projection is 50,000 direct jobs spread between these companies.
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.
The stagnation of the refinery project could be the reason for China's loss of interest in Costa Rica, after having stopped the disbursement of a $24 million "freebie", the purchase of $1 billion worth of Costa Rican bonds, the development of an industrial pole, and the extension of a road.
EDITORIAL
The diplomatic shift from Costa Rica which privileged mainland China over Taiwan - in contrast to all of its Central American neighbors- held the promise of an injection of Chinese investment and development in the country, in public infrastructure, energy, and manufacturing centers.
It has been announced that the location of the planned special economic zone, which will be financed and built by China, will be decided in the third quarter of 2016.
The eight cantons in the area of the central Pacific which according to the Ministry of Foreign Trade have the necessary conditions to host a special economic zone are Garabito, Aguirre, Esparza, Orotina, Puntarenas, Montes de Oro, Parrita and San Mateo.
If free zones -with their tax breaks and other privileges- are good for the economy, why isn't the entire country made into a free zone?
EDITORIAL
Why not provide companies founded with Central America capital the same benefits and privileges enjoyed by foreign firms operating under free zone regimes? The job creation and contribution to the economy that can be made by companies in free zones because they enjoy these privileges should be able to come from business founded with Central American capital as well, which in contrast to foreign firms, have to deal with excessive regulations and bureaucracy in the States of Central America.
The Solis administration has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese government to begin studying the feasibility of setting up a special economic zone in Costa Rica for enterprises from China.
As part of the agreement signed between the two governments, feasibility studies will be started along with defining where the zone will be sited.
A feasibility study will be carried out on converting the canton of Orotina in Alajuela, into a center to attract economic development in order for large logistics companies to establish there.
From a statement issued by the Georgia Tech Foundation:
According to Emmanuel Hess, President of the Georgia Tech Foundation "Orotina canton has special factors which make us to think that it would be feasible to set up a logistic hub which would encourage the arrival of companies." Among these conditions, Hess said is its proximity to Puerto Caldera, proximity to the National Route 27, which allows travel to San Jose in about 45 minutes, the Canton's excellent interconnections via fiber optics and the probable location of the new international airport in that region.
In January, the island will open a Special Development Zone, where both foreign and Cuban companies will enjoy tax and service benefits.
With an investment of $900 million, the new area will be open next January and will be located near the Gulf of Mexico and linked geographically to the Panama Canal.
The new Special Development Zone, announced by the Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Rodrigo Malmierca, covers about 475 square kilometers in the port of Mariel, 50 miles west of Havana.
The agreement between both nations to develop a Special Economic Zone will be completed in less than a year.
The project which the two countries plan to implement in the Central American nation will materialize in less than a year, benefiting sectors such as high-tech and manufacturing.
This was stated by the Costa Rican Minister of Foreign Trade, Anabel Gonzalez, who is on a visit to the Asian nation to promote FDI in Costa Rica, to boost tourism and find new avenues of cooperation with China, a country which according to Gonzalez , has trade reaching $6.2 billion.
The Republic of China is to conduct a feasibility study for the construction of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the country.
A press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Costa Rica reads:
COMEX and the China Development Bank have signed agreement to initiate a feasibility study.
On Thursday the President of the Republic, Laura Chinchilla, witnessed the signing of a Framework Agreement between the Ministry of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica and the China Development Bank to prepare a study to analyze the feasibility of developing a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in our country.
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