Many foreign companies (manufacturing and services) operate in Costa Rica’s Free Trade Zones (FTZ) where they benefit from investment and tax incentives. Well over half of that type of investment has come from the U.S.According to the government, the zones supported over 82,000 direct jobs and 43,000 indirect jobs in 2015.

Companies with facilities in the America Free Zone in Heredia, for example, include Intel, Dell, HP, Bayer, Bosch, DHL, IBM and Okay Industries.

Reasons to invest

1.PEOPLE

Costa Rica provides a dynamic platform for talent development, in alignment with market needs and the jobs of the future.

#1 in skills of current and future workforce in Latin America GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS REPORT, WEF, 2019

2. Environmentally friendly

• Costa Rica is your strategic ally to generate impact, perform on your ESGs and achieve your sustainable development goals (SDGs). Sustainability for us is not a hype, its been part of our DNA for the past 60 years.
• Where else can you be 99% carbon neutral just by plugging into its energy grid?
• 99% of Costa Rica electricity comes from renewables.
• 52% of the national territory is covered by forests.
• 6.5% of the world’s biodiversity in just 0.03% of the Earth’s surface

3.PROSPERITY

Costa Rica is a proven partner for enterprise-wide transformation. We are a truly technology-enabled ecosystem, a dynamic environment for innovation and R&D.

4. INVESTMENT INCENTIVES

• A competitive incentive package to reach true ROI
• Costa Rica’s tax incentives offers a strong framework to reach ROI with transparency and equal treatment to any and all investors. Costa Rica´s Free Trade Zone Regine meet World Trade Organizations as well as OCDE standards. There is no need for negotiation on a per case basis, incentives as granted to investors that meet requirements.
• In addition, entities wishing to set up operations in areas outside the Greater Metropolitan Area (GMA) can enjoy greater benefits. Display your preferred option and toggle according to your needs.

5.Free Trade Zones

The Free Trade Zone Regime is the mainstay of Costa Rica‘s export and investment promotion strategy. It is a set of incentives and benefits granted by the Costa Rican government to companies making new investments in the country and it provides tax incentives on income, imports and exports of goods among many others. This allows companies to more efficiently have access to any needed production inputs, to add specialization and value to make final products locally and finally reach end markets in an easier way.

The country offers a wide variety of industrial parks and office centers with great benefits to your business.

-Special tax exemptions on all sectors

-Priority benefits for developments outside GMA

6.Tax incentives 

• Costa Rica’s tax incentives and benefits are standardized.
 They apply to any and all companies according to their operation, so there is no need for negotiation on a per case basis.
• ALL SECTORS INSIDE THE GMA:
• 100% TAX EXEMPTION
• NO EXPIRATION PERIOD
• Custom duties on imports/exports
• Withholding tax on royalties and fees
• Interest income
• Sales tax on local purchases of goods/service
• Stamp duty
• 10 YEAR PERIOD*
• Property Transfer Taxes

FIRST 8 YEAR PERIOD 100% INCOME TAX EXEMPTION

FOLLOWING 4 YEAR PERIOD 50% INCOME TAX EXEMPTION

INVESTMENT SECTORS

1.Manufacturing Sector

Not just nearshoring but bestshoring: From food and agri-tech to the next gen of electronics, robotics and rocket science. Bolstered by experience, Costa Rica is leader in production process sophistication in Latin America according to the World Economic Forum. Costa Rica showcases a consolidated smart manufacturing industry that operates with a high level of complexity, broad diversity of products and great dynamism. It plays as a strategic partner of the Global Value Chains (GVC) and their redesign in this new era, delivering on highly productive processes and true ROI on the triple bottom line.

2. Life Sciences

The future of health is here: from e-healthto automation

Costa Rica hosts a robust ecosystem for next-wave life sciences with +70 medtech multinationals that design and produce solutions that save lives around the world. These companies face the challenge of constant reconversion due to the industry’s accelerated global transformation, where IoT, e-health, automation and new materials will mark the coming trend.

3.Digital Technologies

The Silicon Valley of Latin America The need to drive digital transformation has accelerated within almost all types of businesses. It demands a better way to leverage and integrate different data sources to gain greater efficiencies and deliver unique experiences across all channels. But the end goal is actually a much more customer-centric approach where personalization is key to end consumers. Costa Rica serves as a strong partner to drive digitalization in an ecosystem that connects and responds to fast-evolving customer demands.

4.Creative Industries

The creative economy leverages a wild mind, a disciplined eye, which combines with the right technology and culture for innovation to enhance everyday experiences. These drives solutions that enable people to share, collaborate, and enjoy ever-more-so personalized experiences. Costa Rica undoubtedly offers a stimulating business ecosystem with a sensitivity for our environment, which provides the encouragement that creative industries need to thrive.

5.Corporate & Business Processes

Costa Rica has transformed into a multifunctional business destination, now evolving towards next-wave Excellence Centers. As a dynamic hub for corporate and business processes, Costa Rica delivers 100 different business functions in more than 12 different languages for business units such as shared services, outsourcing, tech support or regional headquarters, among many others. From contact centers to knowledge services and R&D, our country is a global site to optimize your corporate delivery and lead digital adoption, making us the natural choice for the all-service-economy era

6.Tourism

As a world leader in Sustainable Tourism and over 60 years of commitment to preserving the environment, Costa Rica has become a top destination for global travelers seeking wellness, health, relaxation, balance, connection, adventure or business. At the heart of the Americas, flanked by the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, lies an incredible area of rainforests, beaches and wildlife. Welcome to Costa Rica: home to over 6% of the planet’s biodiversity.

Costa Rica offers sun, beach, jungle, mountain, adventure, ecotourism, rural tourism, business and wellness. It provides a growing opportunity to establish your tourism project and take part of one of the country’s biggest economic drivers.