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.
LatAm Free Trade Zones: Are they Really Built to Support BPO and IT?
November 16th, 2011By Jeff Pappas
Over the years, the US has been Latin America’s primary outside investor and leading trading partner, followed by Western Europe. Latin America’s leading imports in past years have included cars, chemicals, electrical equipment, farm machinery, and pharmaceuticals, while its leading exports include bananas, coffee, cotton, meat, wood, and rubber.
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.
Canada Seeks Closer Relationship with Latin America
November 9th, 2011Source: Americas Quarterly
In August, on his fourth official visit to Latin America, Prime Minister Stephen Harper set out to reboot Canada’s on-and-off-again relationship with the region. In the first stop on a four-country tour that took him to Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Honduras, Harper declared in São Paulo that “during too long a time we neglected relations[…]too much grass grows in the cracks on the road. It is time,” he added, “for increased ambition.”
Ambition is important. But so is perseverance.
Canadian efforts in the Americas are characterized by quixotic spasms of tango-like embrace: joining the Organization of American States (1990); negotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA, 1993–1994); and committing to the Free Trade Area of the Americas (1994)—all nearly 20 years ago. But this rush of engagement was followed by a long siesta until 2007, when the Harper government announced its Strategy of Engagement in …
As Nearshore Moves Up the Value Chain, Infosys Execs See More Opportunities
October 25th, 2011
By Luke Bujarski
Infosys BPO rolled out the red carpet last week in Boca Raton, Florida, for the fourth-annual BPO Summit and Colloquium. Between the catamaran ride, golf and the various delicacies offered by the Boca Raton Resort and Club, two key Infosys execs came out as champions for nearshore: Head of Sales for LATAM Humberto Andrade and Ritesh Idnani COO of Infosys BPO.
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.
Mexico, Chile and Costa Rica Top List of Nearshore Destinations
October 7th, 2011Source: CIO
Outsourcing customers seeking nearshore alternatives to offshore outsourcing hot spots need not look far for the leading options. Mexico is their best bet, according to a new ranking of Latin American outsourcing locations by outsourcing consultancy ThinkSolutions.
“It was no surprise to see Mexico at the top of the list,” says ThinkSolutions partner Tony Mataya. “NAFTA makes trade with Mexico very financially viable, and the cultural influence that comes from sharing a border with a country simplifies business relations.”
Indeed, America’s neighbor to the south boasts 2,000 IT companies, 550,000 trained IT professionals, and a growing labor pool, according to ThinkSolutions.
More unexpected was Chile, Costa Rica and Argentina, given the size of its labor pool and the attention it has received as a source of IT and business process services. “We were somewhat surprised to see Brazil so low,” says Kate Shearer, a consultant for ThinkSolutions who conducted the …
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 …
Latin American Economies Gain in Global Competitiveness
October 3rd, 2011
By Robert L. Scheier
The World Economic Forum essentially gave a big round of applause to the tiger economies of Latin America recently, with it annual Global Competitiveness Report. Chile, Mexico and Brazil showed strong advancement – but one Caribbean country also is rising in the ranks, despite a bit of a quiet demeanor.
Uncontrollable factors such as rising commodity prices, as well as intentional choices such as business-friendly policies and modest levels of public debt, have set a foundation for the region to boost the fortunes of its economies and populations. But to take their game to the next level, the WEF recommends, these countries should focus on improving education, trust in public institutions and their transportation infrastructure.
