• Costa Rica lures new wave of retirees

By The Miami Herald
Published: Monday, November 17, 2008 at 1:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, November 16, 2008 at 3:48 p.m.
SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA -- Shielded from the equatorial sun beneath an umbrella, Jim and Carol Lynch reflect on their unusual decision to move from the small town of Fayetteville, Tenn., to a suburb of this Costa Rican capital.
"Look around you, man," Jim Lynch says. "This place is beautiful."
They are among a small but growing cadre of baby boomers for whom Latin American countries with communities catering to gringos are becoming the new Florida, or at least, what Florida meant to previous generations.

More: The Miami Herald

• Caldera in Site! The San Jose-Caldera project will finally be a reality.

Truck loads of stone, tractors and backhoes that are moving dirt, frequent traffic detour, widening streets, blowing up structures, and a trail of red dirt that little by little transforms into a highway…. The San Jose-Caldera project will finally be a reality.
It will take 45 minutes less than it normally does to get to Puntarenas. You will get to the port of Caldera in approximately an hour an ten minutes. If you compare the highway with the actual route, either the Aguacate or Cambronero, it will have less cliffs. You will also run into a series of different services like automatic toll booths and rest stations.

More: La Nacion, Nov. 16 - 2008

• Costa Rica's economic outlook improves

Citing the Costa Rican government's declining debt burden, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services (S&P), one of the big three credit rating agencies, raised its outlook on Costa Rican government debt to positive from stable, according to S&P.

Credit ratings measure the risk of default of particular debt issuers, in this case the Costa Rican government. Other thing being equal, the lower the risk an issuer will default on its debt obligations, the lower the interest rate it will need to pay to borrow from markets.

More: The Tico Times

• Costa Rica Real Estate Investors Market Update

Costa Rica Real Estate Investors Market Update - Finance Minister says Costa Rica is in a "very strong and very favorable" financial position.

President of the central Bank of Costa Rica - Francisco de Paula Gutiérrez

1. In looking at Costa Rica's balance sheet, you will quickly see that according to the country's Finance Minister Guillermo Zuniga, Costa Rica is in a "very strong and very favorable financial position.
2. Costa Rica is enjoying a budget surplus.
3. Imports and exports are only declining slightly.
4. Costa Rica is less reliant on the USA than we have ever been.
5. Not only is Costa Rica in the best financial condition its been for over a decade...
6. Costa Rica's banks are also in very good shape.

• COSTA RICA, a Paradise for foreign investment

Costa Rica stands out for its economical and political stability, sound democracy, and transparency on public institution processes. A quality educated system and qualified human resources availability. The facilitation for foreign investors and the access into markets through regional trade are some of the advances factors that Costa Rica has achieved by having a privileged lace with one of the friendliest business climates and as one of the main destinations for freeing direct investment (FDI) in Latin America. Gabriela Llobet, general director of the Initiative Coalition for Development (CINDE) says that “Costa Rica has become the fourth nation in Latin America that entices the most FDI per inhabitant only overcome by Panama, Chile and Uruguay and has positioned above large economies like Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela”.
Moreover, high tech-sectors such as modern manufacturing, services, and medial devices where Costa Rica hosts more than 150 multi-national companies among several worldwide leading companies.

More: The Central America Times

• Amazon in Costa Rica

Amazon, one of the world’s largest on-line retailers, will be opening a new customer service and call center this November in Heredia. A Director of Customer Service for Amazon has affirmed, “Costa Rica has developed a great infrastructure that complies with our needs and has become the base of operations for other large call centers. Our center in Costa Rica will permit us to continue serving our clients in a fast and efficient way”.
More: La Nacion, August 12, 2008

• National Chamber of Tourism Report

The National Tourism Chamber reported last week that the number of tourists grew 12% during the first half of the year compared to the same period last year, with more than 1 million foreign tourists visiting the country.
More: The Tico Times

• S&P Turns Bullish on Costa Rican Debt

Citing the Costa Rican government´s declining debt burden, Standard & Poor´s global credit ratings services raised its out-look on Costa Rica government debt to positive from stable, according to S&P.
Credit ratings measure the risk of default to particular debt issuers, in this case, the Costa Rican government. Other things being equal, the lower the risk an issuer will default on its debt obligations, the lower the interest rate it will need to pay to borrow from markets.

More: The Tico Times

• Canadians save the Day

Forget U.S. baby boomers. New buyers are in town: Canadians.
Several real estate brokers with offices along the Pacific Coast -prime beachfront property- said Canadians increasingly are replacing U.S. buyers.
¨ (The real estates market) flattened out in, like, October last year then… all of a sudden, the Canadians came back into the market¨, said Don Powell, a RE/MAX sales agent in Tamarindo.
Fewer U. S. buyers, spooked by the looming recession and credit crunch, are gobbling up beachfront property. The U.S dollar also has not fared well against other currencies, including the Canadian dollar.
An ERA real estates representative in Guanacaste said their customers used to be an even mix of U.S. and Canadian buyers. Now, Canadians head the pack.
More: The Tico Times

• Construction Booming in Central Valley, Pacific Coast.

Construction grew by 20 percent in 2007, with 1.2 million more square meters popping up country –wide, according to the Costa Rican Construction Chamber.

Most constructions permits were taken out in the San Jose province (24 percent) last year, with housing construction accounting for 67 percent of growth.

More: The Tico Times

• Fresh Del Monte Produce buys Costa Rica producers

Fresh Del Monte Produce buys Costa Rica banana, pineapple producers for $403 million.

NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc., which makes fresh-cut fruit and vegetables, said Monday it bought two Costa Rica fruit companies and an affiliated sales and marketing business for a total of $403 million.

More: CNN

• Costa Rica Ranks 7th on the list of most attractive investments in Latin America

Costa Rica positioned it self as the 7th best place for investment amongst all the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, indicated studies made by the economic commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL).
The $1,889 million achieved by Costa Rica last year, was only surpassed by Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Argentina and Peru according to the report.
The study highlighted the relative importance of all the investment achieved by the Central American countries , if related with the internal gross product (IGP)

More: La Nacion, May 8, 2008

• 21 Kilometers of asphalt. Garabito builds road to attract tourism.

Jacó, Garabito – With an investment of nearly 300 million colones, the municipality of Garabito, in alliance with entrepreneurs and the Development of Public Works and Transportation (MOPT), is building a highway that stretches through four communities and will benefit more than 2500 residents in the area.
The project in progress brings together the communities of Bajamar , Guacalillo, Cuarros and Lagunillas of Garabito.
The purpose is to convert the rural path into 21 Kilometers of asphalt, with two lanes going in both directions.

More: La Nacion, May 2, 2008

• JACÓ EMERGING - CATCHING THE WAVE OF GROWTH ON THE PACIFIC COAST

Destined for greatness” is how Pat Hundley, President of Day Star Properties, describes Jaco’s recent facelift, as development continues to transform the once-sleepy surf town into a burgeoning tourist destination and up-and-coming commercial center. With development progressing full speed ahead, a new Jaco is emerging in its wake, with exciting changes for business, tourism, and the quality of life for residents and foreign visitors alike.

According to municipality statistics, 2007 has seen the completion of over 1000 condos in more than 15 properties, including the first three of Day Star’s seven beachfront condos and VistaMar, the first of four new VistaCR properties. Acqua Residences’ 8-floor beachfront property is near-completion and service-oriented Macaws Ocean Club has completed phase one of its two-phase project.

More: Realty Guide Costa Rica

• BELIEVE IT OR NOT, WE ARE NUMBER ONE

WE ALSO QUALIFY AS A SAFE COUNTRY FOR INVESTORS

Believe it or not, Costa Rica qualified as the most secure country in Latin America for businessmen and multinational enterprises, according to the last survey for Latin Security carried out by the FTI Consulting Ibero America, for the Latin Business Chronicle seminar held in Miami, USA.

The index measures the levels of danger in each country using a scale from 1 to 5, where 1 is a country completely secure and 5 is the least. Only three countries in Latin America were marked with a 2: Costa Rica, Chile and Uruguay.

Joachim Bamrud, Director of the Latin Business Chronicle commented that even though Costa Rica was marked at the same level as Chile and Uruguay, the survey determined that Costa Rica is the most secured country.

More: The Tico Times