Article by CentralAmericaData.com with insights from Nacion.com. The Costa Rican environmental authority has only 5 technicians to analyze the viability of infrastructure projects worth billions of dollars to the economy and country of Costa Rica, creating a bottleneck on advancement. Construction of the new container terminal at the Port of Moin can not begin because of lack of approval of ...

Located within Guachipelin Escazu, Pura Vida Dog is a Canadian owned and operated business on a mission to support companion animal culture and owners in Costa Rica. We know how hard it can be to find a reliable, safe, and clean place to keep your canine companion when you leave Costa Rica on business or pleasure. Located in the heart of Guachipelin Escazu very close to Multiplaza, Pura Vida...

NEW YORK – July 15, 2013 – Renowned New York City architectural firm Ismael Leyva Architects has designed the tallest building in San José, Costa Rica, known as the Torres Paseo Colon. The premier luxury residential tower was developed by Grupo Inmobiliario del Parque with Arquitectura y Diseño as the executive architect. Completed in 2013 and completely sold out, this mixed-use tower combines res...

SINGAPORE - Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang will be making his first official visit to Colombia and Costa Rica from Jul 16 to 19 to boost economic engagement and ties between the nations. In Colombia, Mr Lim will sign the Colombia-Singapore Investment Guarantee Agreement (IGA) with the Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism of Colombia, H.E. Sergio Díaz-Granados Guida. The IGA...

When renting an apartment or house in Costa Rica people should always have their lawyer look over the rental contract before signing it. Nevertheless, there are a few things you should know to avoid misunderstandings and headaches down the road. (1) The amount of the monthly rent should be stipulated in a written contract. (2) The amount that the rent may be increased yearly if in colones. ...

A sharp increase in real estate acquisition and development by foreign investors in Costa Rica contributed $377 million to the national economy in the first quarter of 2013 (Q1). In real estate offices around the Central Valley, purchasing activity during the first three months of the year climbed by 13 percent when compared to the previous year. According to a report by Oscar Rodriguez of La Nac...

Quiznos, the pioneer of the toasted sandwich, announced it will work closely with its suppliers to eliminate controversial pig “gestation crates” from its supply chain between 2017 and 2022. The cages, used to confine breeding pigs, have been criticized in recent years by animal welfare advocates and the food industry alike, and Quiznos had introduced some gestation crate-free pork into its restau...

For the first time all fishing sectors are working together on a common goal in Costa Rica. To have more fish so everyone can work in harmony. Nearly 100,000 people depend on commercial and sport fishing to maintain their families and each year there are less and less fish to go around. After years of throwing rocks at each other, the commercial and sport fishing began meeting to discuss ways to m...

Bitcoin, a controversial digital currency that is being widely adopted in many parts of the world, is not likely to make too much of a splash in Costa Rica. This is a sad fact of reality since the peer-to-peer nature of Bitcoin will probably appeal to many Ticos who do not trust in their Central Bank's ability to balance the value of the national currency against inflation and pressure from other ...

The friendly skies over Costa Rica are attracting the attention of airlines and business leaders who see plenty of opportunities to generate handsome profits. The abrupt cancellation of a handful of flight and the summary layoff of more than two hundred employees by the airline Taca back in May left a sour taste in the air travel industry of Costa Rica, but recent news point to a positive recovery...

Costa Rica’s only brewpub, Volcano Brewing Company, is moving to the Pacific Coast and beaches of Tamarindo in Guanacaste. Since first opening its doors in 2011, Volcano Brewing Company has been providing delicious microbrewed beer, tasty cuisine and plenty of smiles and unique experiences to a large part of northern Costa Rica, for both locals and visitors alike. With a long­ awaited plan for ...

WELWYN GARDEN CITY, ENGLAND July 4th 2013 – Clamcleats Limited, a British manufacturer of its own brand of products, also employed for its molding and tooling services announces the opening of a new production facility in Cartago, Costa Rica in June. Further to signing a contract to supply plastic injection molded components to a long-term customer in Costa Rica, the British company opened...

Here are some of the photos from the 2013 Exphore Hotels and Restaurants Conference hosted at the Pedregal Events Center in Belen Heredia, Costa Rica. For more photos please visit our Facebook photo gallery. If you would like to read a press release about this conference, please visit our previously published article. ...

The Costa Rican group Purdy Motor Company will be responsible for marketing the brand of Lexus vehicles in the country; with an investment of more than $1 million dollars in inventory and remodeling of galleries. This investment seeks to attract to the Costa Rican public, and represents the second stage of the brand in the country, so it clarifies Allan Sime, Lexus representative for Costa ...

The picture above is an artistic rendering of the Casino-resort pool area. A ground breaking is scheduled June 20 in Jacó for a 17-story casino resort. The business, to be known as Croc's Casino Resort, is expected to be in operation by December 2014. The building will be on the north side of the central Pacific community of Jaco. Owners are Dag and Jennifer Hascall. He is the owner o...

LIBERIA, GUANACASTE, COSTA RICA – In a significant scientific and environmental achievement, a combined team of engineers and technicians from Ad Astra Rocket Company and Cummins Power Generation, a business unit of global power leader Cummins Inc., (NYSE: CMI) have successfully powered a Cummins-built electrical generator using mixtures of hydrogen and biogas. The team’s success goes hand-in-h...

Announcing the construction starting June 20, 2013 of Croc’s Casino Resort, the Central Pacific’s Newest Address. Change is in the air as Jaco is soon to be home to one of the country’s best resorts. The ground will officially be broken Thursday, June 20, 2013 at 4pm with a celebratory pool party rich with dignitaries, celebrities, local influencers, media and sports figures from Costa Rica...

SANTA ANA, SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA – Holaofertas, a shopping website that offers a daily deal on the best local goods, services and cultural events in Costa Rica launched on April 8, 2013. “Ranked as one of the best country's for small business with a vibrant local culture, Costa Rica is an ideal Holaofertas market,” said Carl Tremblay, president and chief operating officer of Holaofertas. “H...

Over 160 companies will exhibit products and services for the gastronomy, hospitality and related industries. San José, April 11th, 2013 - The Hotels and Restaurants Expo, Exphore Costa Rica is the business center where national and international providers exhibit there products and services for the sector. The fair counts with the participation of almost 4,000 professionals that come from ...

San Jose, April 10th, 2013 - Expo Vino Costa Rica 2013 is the event where wine lovers can travel around more than 80 wine distributors and producers from all around the world, they are going to be able to try the different wine varieties and qualities and get to know their main cellars. Expo Vino Costa Rica will be going on from Wednesday, October 23rd to Friday, October 25th, 2013 from 3:00 ...

Join the Professional Women’s Group (of the Women’s Club of Costa Rica) next Saturday for a workshop with journalist and writer Marilyn Batista Márquez. Ms. Batista is President of Batista Comunicaciones and Chair of the Woman Entrepreneur Program of the Costa Rica Chamber of Commerce. She is an advocate for the development and equality of women; with this workshop she aims to give participants to...

A unique experience. 23 hectares of lush tropical forest landscaping designed to make your dreams come true. A destination like no other located in the North Pacific coast of Costa Rica, unique in its exclusive design. Lomas del Sol is immerse in the middle of the forest, sea, sun and sand combined with an incredible variety of wildlife that lives in harmony with nature. We invite you to e...

APRIL 2013, New Golfo Dulce/Corcovado adventure packages announced by Saladero Eco Lodge and Danta Corcovado Lodge. For the first time a Golfo Dulce and Corcovado lodge are working together to provide unique natural experiences with all the details taken care of. Although only 15 miles distant from each other, the differing bio-diversity at each lodge is amazing. Experience the best part of...

The Cacao Lounge opened December 16th 2012 as a new concept of delectable art chocolates, and desserts with fresh flowers in a lounge setting. The Cacao Lounge is a completely new concept developed over a period of five years by partner owner and designer Marianna Love. The concept is everything dipped in chocolate in a relaxed beautiful atmosphere. These special treats and chocolates are t...

Finca LaPatria is a small alternative farm with the main objective of being as self-sustaining as possible. It is located along the Azahar river in Tacacori. It is a small town in the province of Alajuela, Costa Rica. The farm has a small greenhouse, organic orchards, gardens, paths which lead to the river and a swimming pool with natural spring water. It also hosts recreational activities ...

  Anchors End Tattoo-Playa Jaco is an internationally acclaimed art studio offering the finest in body decoration and body piercing. Owner artist Keely Tackett has brought 33 years of experience to Costa Rica. We offer freehand style, state of the art to each client who is seeking professional one of a kind body decoration. National tattoo association member for 29 years. Red cross cert...

McDonald's is not only one of the most powerful and widely-recognized brands around the world; it is also one of the most vilified. The Golden Arches have come to symbolize everything that is good and bad about globalization and the American (U.S.) way of life, and this has also led to a series of misconceptions and urban legends about this massive money-making enterprise. In Costa Rica, th...

While Krysia Peterson might not be from Texas, she has certainly embraced “Everything Western” in her fabulously well stocked new store, Caballo Loco Boutique, in Ciudad Colon. Hats and more hats are the first items that catch the eye when you enter this cozy and comfortably air conditioned local. To all those that know Krysia, this is hardly a surprise, as they are definitely her number one, f...

Renting hotels and low interest loans to entrepreneurs with financial problems, have joined other traditional forms of money laundering. The latest news from the U.S. State Department on the subject, shows that profits from trafficking in cocaine and other drugs, internet gambling, financial fraud, human trafficking, corruption and smuggling, are the sources of the assets that are "cleaned" in ...

Reach506.com was launched over the weekend, with the aim of reaching thousands of English speaking expats in Costa Rica with a daily email-newsletter, advice, information, and savings on local businesses. The information shared on Reach506.com cannot be found anywhere else, and it comes from people who live on the ground in Costa Rica year round. “Personal subscription management is only one cl...

Join the Professional Women’s Group (of the Women’s Club of Costa Rica) this Friday evening for its first networking event of 2013. This is a great opportunity to meet other professional women from a variety of industries, so bring your business cards! If this is your first PWG event, it will be a fun introduction to this diverse group of women. Beginner English speakers are welcome. Spani...

Costa Rica's Constitutional Tribunal, the country's highest court, on Feb. 6 unanimously rejected a case brought by the country's Mining and Industry Association challenging the 2010 ban on open-pit mining. The Associaiton argued that the ban on license renewal for existing open-pit mines is unconstitutional and applied in a discriminatory manner. The judges found that the prohibition on license r...

A new tax reform bill is bringing up for discussion which sectors of the economy need these stimuli kept in place and which do not. The bill on a new tax reforms seeks to incorporate new control measures for public expenditure and to implement changes to the tax system. With the new reform, the country's tax burden would rise from the current 13.7% to 15.5% of production and could grow to 19...

Costa Rican consumer prices rose the most in three years after government regulators let energy costs rise in Central America’s second-biggest economy. Costa Rican consumer prices climbed 1.31 percent in January, the largest monthly increase since Jan. 2010, the national statistics agency said in an e-mailed statement today. Inflation quickened to 5.74 percent from a year earlier, the fastest s...

Over the next nine months the Central Bank of Costa Rica will slow credit growth to the private sector, keeping it at below 9%. Posted under a publication of the Macroeconomic Program for 2013-2014 the measure is temporary and intends to prevent the formation of a credit bubble caused by excess liquidity. During 2012 private sector credit grew by 14.2%. The Costa Rican Banking Association (A...

Industrialists say they are at a disadvantage in competing with a country that offers great benefits to its companies, and have made calls to respect most of the sector, which opposes the treaty. A statement from the Chamber of Industries of Costa Rica (CICR) reads: Facing the fourth round of negotiations for a trade agreement with Colombia Industrialists demand respect for exclusions req...

Costa Rica's government will submit to lawmakers in 2014 a fiscal reform bill to boost consumption taxes and cut the deficit as it seeks to tap global debt markets, the country's finance minister said on Tuesday. President Laura Chinchilla's administration will ask lawmakers to scrap the country's sales tax and replace it with a higher-rate value-added tax (VAT), Finance Minister Edgar Ayales t...

Foreign capital inflows have rushed into Costa Rica too quickly, sparking the government’s efforts to weaken Latin America’s third-best performing currency this year, Vice President Luis Liberman said. The government is seeking congressional approval to raise deposit requirements on investors and boost taxes on interest paid abroad after inflows rose as global investors search for higher yields...

In Costa Rica the strong growth of retail space within large malls is leading to transfers, remodeling, and new tactics to attract tenants, and an increase in the number of vacant units. Elfinancierocr.com reports that "The ‘theft’ of tenants by new malls and the exodus of other brands to smaller formats are just two of the effects of the boom in malls in the country." "One of the immediate ...

If you thought that 2012 was a year moved in the business world, pay attention to what is said about 2013, because the expectations are quite ambitious. This is not just about the arrival of new industrial enterprises but also the commercial sector, tourism and real estate, including shopping centers, office centers, shops, supermarkets, restaurants and others. The Central Bank estimates tha...