Report: San Jose Most Attractive LATAM City For IT Investment

Costa Rican capital San Jose is the most attractive Latin American city for information technology investment, according to the ‘World’s Most Competitive Cities 2015,’ an analysis of global cities with greater potential in luring foreign capital.

Ranked next to San Jose is Chile’s capital Santiago. Other Latin American cities named in this list for IT investment include Querétaro, México, Buenos Aires, Argentina and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Jointly prepared by Conway, Moody’s Analytics, Tractus and Oxford Economics, the report ranks global cities after analyzing their potential in attracting investment in 12 sectors including transportation and communications and information technology.

Costa Rica’s capital also tops Latin American rankings in the areas of life sciences, electronics manufacturing and business & financial services, while Buenos Aires leads the list for transportation and chemicals.

According to the report, Mexican cities of Tijuana, Monterrey and Mexico City have huge potential in attracting investments in electronics manufacturing. The authors of the report claim that they also took into account results from surveys conducted by local experts and corporate decision-makers.

The performance of San Jose may not surprise analysts, because the Costa Rican capital is reportedly home to more than 200 technology companies. Here are the offices of the likes of HP, Infosys, Convergys and Cisco Systems.

Some sectors in the country are exempted from import tariffs and export taxes. The main attractions are, however, its free trade zones, hefty tax-breaks and stable political climate.

In a press release issued in response to the report, Costa Rica’s investment promotion agency (CINDE) has stated that the country is committed to “continue investing and promoting careers needed for these companies in order to offer quality human talent.”

According to Alexander Mora, minister for foreign trade, Costa Rica is devising measures to reduce operational costs and to improve the country’s infrastructure. Today, services sector account for 17 percent of the country’s export revenue.