Costa Rica: A Small, But Rising Competitor in the Global IT Economy
March 29th, 2012By Mark McLoud and Jagdish Dalal (COP)
Until recently, the IT Services industry has been dominated mostly by large companies leveraging their presence in mass-scale geographies such as China and India and servicing equally large clients in the US and Europe.
What’s the Secret to CINDE’s Success?
March 20th, 2012CINDE sets a high standard for investment promotion. Pilar Madrigal explains the group’s formula.
Costa Rican ICT Market Finally Breathing Life of Liberalization
November 22nd, 2011
President Chinchilla kisses goodbye to monopolies.
By Dan Berthiaume
The Costa Rican telecom market is undergoing a period of intense growth that should last at least through 2016, according to a new report from Pyramid Research.
“Costa Rica: Surging Market Gives Operators More Devices, Access and Content to Sell” identifies two key factors in what is expected to be a robust increase in adoption of Costa Rican mobile services: The emergence of competition from pan-regional operators to dominant local telecom player ICE (Costa Rica Institute of Electricity), and exceptionally strong growth in use of mobile data.
Costa Rica’s Startups Fight Through Bureaucracy and Focus on Diversifying
November 15th, 2011Part II: “Diversify or Die” – is part of code of survival for startups in Costa Rica
By Patrick Haller
In Part II of a series, we take a deeper look at the startup culture of Costa Rica. Despite bureaucratic hurdles and limited access to capital, there are numerous success stories here. Getting up and running often requires that firms diversify their services base and figure out a way to become profitable from the start. We talked to four services firms – that managed to thrive in a less-than-nurturing environment.
Costa Rica Comes to Grips with its Lack of Support for Entrepreneurs
November 10th, 2011Part I: Risk-takers should be applauded not frowned upon, say pioneering entrepreneurs
By Patrick Haller
In Costa Rica tradition dictates that university graduates should get a job with either an established, national company, or with one of the major US multinationals, such as Intel, now based in and around San Jose. Facing stigmatization, the risk of failure, lack of funding, growing pains and steep competition for clients and qualified employees, there are some Costa Rican who have chosen a different path.
Costa Rica’s Free Trade Zones Not Looking So “Free” After All
October 18th, 2011
Chinchilla is at odds with the head of CINDE, Costa Rica's lead investment agency
By Luke Bujarski
Costa Rica’s system of free trade zones may not be “free” for much longer, if a controversial tax on products and services exporters gets bundled into the government’s latest deficit reduction plan. While local authorities, including President Laura Chinchilla, confirmed with Nearshore Americas that the new tax proposal would not affect existing companies, many are worried that a change to current policy would rock the proverbial boat, and send mixed signals to an otherwise bullish foreign investment community. NSAM also notes that a policy which favors existing companies over new entrants could open the door for hostilities between the public and private sector.
Costa Rica Caught in the Crosshairs of the Drug War
October 6th, 2011Source: Global Post
The slogan is included on all government communiques, per order of the president: “Construimos un pais seguro,” or “We’re building a secure country.”
But Costa Ricans are losing faith that security can be restored. Economic woes used to be what most kept them up at night; nowadays, crime wobbles the nation’s worry jar.
Nearly half of Costa Ricans consider citizen security the worst problem facing the country, the highest rate since the firm Unimer began polling on the issue in 2005.
From a global view, Costa Rica ranks among the safest, happiest countries in Latin America. But it has fallen prey to international organized crime and drug rings that authorities blame for a spike in violence, drug abuse and murder.
As drug gangs carve bloody swaths across Central America, seeds of cartel crime are sprouting in this country once believed to be a bastion of peace. The United Nations …
Chinchilla and CINDE Focus on Courting Investors in New York City
September 21st, 2011
By Luke Bujarski
Before heading over to the UN General Assembly, President of Costa Rica Laura Chinchilla took the morning to engage investors at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City. In addressing those lining up for a closer look at what the “Rich Coast” has to offer, Madame President left much of the talking around investment opportunities up to her senior delegation. Of course, the group would not have been complete without Mr. Jose Rossi, President of CINDE Costa Rica’s renowned investment promotional agency in charge of promoting the country as the “best export platform in the Western Hemisphere.”
IBM Commits to Another 1,000 Hires in Costa Rica, Dismissing Talk of a Labor Shortage
September 6th, 2011
Patrick Haller
When IBM launched a BPO operations in Costa Rica in 2004, the firm was cautiously optimistic about its potential. Over the last eight years, IBM has certainly shown that it has learned its way around San Jose. Carl Ingersoll (left), who has been Director of IBM Costa Rica for about a year, is now set to drive the operation ever further – hiring as many as 1,000 new employees over the next few years in an ambitious plan to ramp up exported services.
Can Latin America’s Captives Pitch like Third-Party Providers?
August 11th, 2011
Oshri: Captives Must Evolve
By Luke Bujarski
It’s time for captive centers across Latin America to grow up. While recent data published by Everest Research officially took the captive center model off the endangered species list, changing tides in management and increasing global competition suggest that it will be far from smooth sailing for LatAm’s captives industry.
