Cognizant Opens New Delivery Center in Costa Rica

Indian outsourcing giant Cognizant has expanded its footprint in the Americas with the opening of a delivery center in San José, Costa Rica. The center – Cognizant’s fifth in Latin America and 15th in the Americas – was inaugurated by Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla-Miranda.

Cognizant caused a stir last week when it announced plans to hire 10,000 workers in the United States over the next three years. Analysts say expanding in the nearshore region is inevitable for the Indian company to support its growing clientele in North America.

Proximity and time zone alignment with the United States were the two major reasons behind the decision to expand operation in Latin America, stated Cognizant, which is headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey.

“Cognizant’s choice of Costa Rica for the new delivery center consolidates our positioning as one of the best locations for foreign direct investment in the services sector,” said the visibly excited president of the Central American country.

Cognizant, which wants to hire more than 100 people in the weeks ahead, will use its Costa Rican center to offer back-office service to global financial firms in the United States.

“Costa Rica has the highest English proficiency in all of Latin America, produces more than 45,000 college graduates annually—a number expected to go up to 60,000 by 2017,” said Cognizant’s Executive Vice-President Gajen Kandiah, according to India’s Business Standard.

“With the support of Costa Rica’s strong business environment and education system, we look forward to growing our Costa Rican operations to deliver significant time-to-market, cost, and transformational value to clients through a broader array of technology and business process capabilities,” added Francisco D’Souza, chief executive officer of Cognizant.

“Cognizant’s presence in Costa Rica will further enrich the country’s reputation as one of the most credible services hub in Latin America and help increase the competitiveness of the country’s consulting, IT, and BPO industry to fulfill the expectations of a fast-changing global business landscape,” stated Gabriela Llobet, director general of the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE).