Why Costa Rica?

Costa Rica Green and Smart

Why Costa Rica?

Costa Rica is an important international provider of innovative and high value added information and communication technology products and services; a center of

convergence with local and international linkages in an ecologically friendly, democratic, and safe environment.

Costa Rica's IT industry is favoured by several conditions that promote the attraction of investments and the companies development:

Strategic location: Proximity to North and South America
Time zone +- 2 hours from the main cities of the continent
Political and economic stability
Friendly environment and low risk to attract businesses
Excellent quality of life
Attractive investment incentives
Strong telecommunications infrastructure
Important companies are already established in Costa Rica such as: Intel, Oracle, IBM, HP, Sykes, Microsoft, among others
Diversification of exports and low dependency on traditional production
IT products and services are not subject of limitations of distance or transportation
Well-educated, creative, innovative, English-speaking and highly productive human resource

Costa Rica has technical and superior education institutions that generate qualified human resource, such as:

Technical high-schools
Private and public universities
National Learning Institute (INA for its initials in Spanish)
CEFOF
CENFOTEC

50% of the elementary schools and all high-schools have computer labs and receive English lessons. This allows children and teenagers to learn the language and computer skills at a very early age.

Recognitions:

During the last years Costa Rica is proudly positioned in the top places of international indicators such as:

The World Economic Forum's Networked Readiness Index 2006-2007, ranked Costa Rica as one of the most connected countries in Latin America after Chile, Brazil and Mexico.
The Economist Intelligence Unit, Liveability Rankings 2005 positioned San José among the cities in Latin America with the highest levels in quality of life.
The World Economic Forum listed Costa Rica as the 3rd most competitive country in Latin America in 2006.
The United Nations Human Development Report 2006 indicates that Costa Rica is the 5th top high-technology exporter in the world.
Costa Rica occupies the 3rd spot in the Global Outsourcing Report 2005, Going Global Ventures Inc., New York, after India and China, taking the United States as an entry gate.

NEWS ABOUT "WHY COSTA RICA?"

Mar 13th, 2009 Medical devices company, Allergan Inc. focuses operations in Costa Rica - Allergan Inc. will invest in Costa Rica nearly $6 million more in new equipment and technologies that will automate its production processes and will finish the transfer process to that Central American country. The U.S. company will also expand its payroll with costa rican human talent... [READ MORE]

Feb 24th, 2009 U.S. service company installs new office in Costa Rica - The companies in the world still rely on Costa Rica as a country to place their investments. The U.S. company Arcus announced last February 22nd that will invest $1.9 million in opening a local office in Costa Rica to bring services throughout Latin America... [READ MORE]