Costa Rica Tech Trade Mission
Call Us: 813-391-0302
Florida Tech Firms To Explore Costa Rica!
June 18-20, 2012
Real InterContinental Hotel & Club Tower
San Jose, Costa Rica
Why Costa Rica?
See for yourself at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxGj5bSvgNQ
• 4th High Tech Exporter of the World! (World Development Indicators, 2007, World Bank)
• Ranked 7th in FDI and technology transfer (The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010, and 2009 World Economic Forum)
• 4th Most Competitive Country in Latin America (The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010, and 2009 World Economic Forum)
• Ranked 36th in the World Health System (The World Report 2000-Health systems: improving performance)
• “Central American Country of the Future” (2007-2008 FDI Magazine)
• Billions in new contract opportunities for US firms via CAFTA!
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Costa Rica is a world player in digital technologies offering a wide range of products and services, highly qualified personnel, businesses with vast experience, an excellent business climate and political stability. One of the main advantages that set us apart on the worldwide playing field is our people’s ability to add value to the development of international projects.
The Costa Rican digital technology industry was born more than 25 years ago and has made itself into one of the most organized, dynamic and innovative sectors in the country. During 2010, it represented 14% of the country’s GDP, generated close to $2.8 billion in exports representing almost 30% of total exports of Costa Rica, and surpassed 58,000 direct jobs. In accordance with the worldwide trend, Costa Rican companies are focusing increasingly more on providing software solutions such as Nearshore and Offshore Outsourcing, SaaS – Software as a Service –, cloud computing and mobile application software.
Digital technology companies in Costa Rica offer a wide variety of solutions in products and services such as:
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BPO
BPO•Application migration
Application migration•Web applications and services
Web applications and services•E-Learning
E-Learning•Tool development
Tool development•Mobile applications
Mobile applications•Hosting
Hosting•Outsourcing
Outsourcing•NOC-SOC network support
NOC-SOC network support•High-availability data centers
High-availability data centers•Components (chips and others)
Components (chips and others)•Application development for financial services, retail, health, tourism, construction, legal,
Application development for financial services, retail, health, tourism, construction, legal, government, among others
•Customized development and design
Customized development and design•Business intelligence
Business intelligence•Cloud Computing
Cloud Computing •Multimedia production Gaming
Multimedia production Gaming •Digital animation and special effects
Digital animation and special effects •Costa Rica's digital technology companies are divided in the following sub-sectors:
Costa Rica's digital technology companies are divided in the following sub-sectors:•Software Development: applications for publishing in every industry, operating systems, network software development, database management software, among others
Software Development: applications for publishing in every industry, operating systems, network software development, database management software, among others•Direct Services: Development and maintenance of applications, consulting, outsourcing, network and telecom infrastructure integration and management
Direct Services: Development and maintenance of applications, consulting, outsourcing, network and telecom infrastructure integration and management•Enabled Services: Contact centers, data support centers, telemarketing, business centers, online purchases administration
Enabled Services: Contact centers, data support centers, telemarketing, business centers, online purchases administration•Components: Hardware products and other electronic devices
Components: Hardware products and other electronic devices•Telecommunications
Telecommunications •Digital animation and gaming.
Digital animation and gaming.________________________________________________________________________
Costa Rica Facts; by the Numbers:
• 1821 Democratic Republic
• 1949 Army was abolished
• Republican Representative System: Executive, Legislative and Judicial independent powers
• 4.5 million Population
• 78.5 years Life Expectancy
• 95.2%Literacy Rate: the vast majority speak English
• 50th out of 179 countries: Human Development Index Value
• 55th out of 133 countries: Global Competitive Index
• 29.8 Billion GDP: (2008)
• 92% of energy from natural resources.
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What Experts Say About Costa Rica:
One
of the most competitive economies in Latin America and the Caribbean;
at 55th position, it comes ahead of Mexico (60th), Panama (59th) and
Brazil (56th), among others. (The Global Competitive Report 2009-2010;
2009 World Economic Forum)
Companies
established in Costa Rica are opening quite high on the value chain
(30th), with comparative advantages based predominantly on sophisticated
products and processes. (The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010;
2009 World Economic Forum)
“Costa Rica…is the hottest place for technology these days and is not Silicon Valley. Costa Rica, mostly known for being an agrarian economy is quickly becoming a power house in the digital age. With HP, Microsoft, Intel and hundreds of other tech and software companies opening, Costa Rica is now servicing the entire world.” (On the Money, CNBC News, April 5th, 2006).
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General Information:
•Official name: Republic of Costa Rica.
Official name: Republic of Costa Rica. •Official language: Spanish.
Official language: Spanish. •Capital: San José.
Capital: San José. •Currency: Costa Rican Colon (¢, CRC).
Currency: Costa Rican Colon (¢, CRC).•Exchange: ¢517 = 1 US$ (February 2012).
Exchange: ¢517 = 1 US$ (February 2012). •Exchange regime: Crawling band regime.
Exchange regime: Crawling band regime. •Population: 4.6 million.
Population: 4.6 million.___________________________________________________________________________
Strategic Location:
The Republic of Costa Rica is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the North, Panama to the East and South, the Pacific Ocean to the West and South and the Caribbean to the East. The country has a total area of 51,100 km2.
Costa Rica is divided in seven provinces: San Jose, Alajuela, Heredia, Cartago, Guanacaste, Puntarenas, and Limon. These provinces are divided into 81 cantons. San Jose, Alajuela, Heredia and Cartago comprise the Great Metropolitan Area (GMA). Approximately 61.7% of the country’s total population and 65.2% of the national labor force reside in the GMA.
San Jose is the capital city. It is located approximately 160 km (99.4 miles) from the Caribbean Coast (Limon) and 78 km (48.1 miles) from the Pacific Coast (Puntarenas).
US Success Stories:
These are just a few of the US Worldwide Multinationals that have chosen Costa Rica:
INTEL SS ($800 Million Plant)
INTEL Manufacturing
SYKES
AVVENTA
VITEC
TRIMPOT
FUJITSU
BAXTER
BAXTER AMERICAS
P&G
HP
BOSTON SCIENTIFIC
WESTERN UNION
HOLOGIC
HOSPIRA
IBM
ARTHROCARE
EMERSON
ALLERGAN
PFIZER
BOSTON SCIENTIFIC
BPO INTERNATIONAL
CITI BUSINESS SERVICES
TECH DATA
Computer Hardware and Software
Alternative Energy Development
Costa Rica
