In order to promote the country as a destination for tourism, investment, and export of goods and services, the President of the Republic, Carlos Alvarado, maintained an active business agenda with important businessmen from the United Arab Emirates.
Initiatives to promote Costa Rica as a tourist destination, offer improved air connectivity from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Costa Rica through code-share partners, the introduction of tailor-made travel packages, and improve connectivity for both cargo and passengers, were the announcements made by representatives of Emirates airline to President Alvarado during his visit to Expo Dubai 2020.
Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President and CEO of Emirates Group, together with the airline executives welcomed the President, First Lady Claudia Dobles and the Costa Rican delegation.
The President celebrated the news and highlighted the triple profit that the country would be obtaining: trade, passengers and logistics. “Like the United Arab Emirates, Costa Rica will welcome Emirati tourists and companies wishing to visit our country with open arms. This is news that brings hope to the gradual process of recovery in the tourism and economic sector.”
Emirates Group Chairman and CEO commented that “Emirates has seen an increase in demand from travelers wanting to connect to Costa Rica from our gateways in the US and Mexico, and we have been in positive conversations with our interline and codeshare partners to expand travel options to meet this demand.
In cooperation with Avianca, Emirates will soon be able to offer our customers connections to Costa Rica via Bogotá from more airports, including European points such as Barcelona, Madrid and London. We hope to develop even more ties with Costa Rica in the future”.
For his part, the Costa Rican ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Francisco Chacón said: “We warmly welcome the initiatives of Emirates airline to promote Costa Rica as a destination. Our beautiful country has something for every traveler, and we look forward to welcoming more people from the United Arab Emirates and around the world to visit Costa Rica.”
Costa Rica: Investment opportunities and exportable offer to Middle Eastern entrepreneurs
Within the framework of the Expo, the Business Forum was held, led by the Foreign Trade Promoter (PROCOMER) where Costa Rica presented its exportable offer and investment opportunities to Middle Eastern entrepreneurs, positioning Costa Rica as a country with an export vocation that offers attractive investment incentives, with high connectivity to international markets and a thriving tourism sector, essential for the post-COVID-19 pandemic recovery.
The Business Forum had the participation of an important group of businessmen and investors and allowed the presentation of differentiating factors that highlight Costa Rica to do business in Latin America as an important link with the Middle East.
In addition, he made known the incentives offered by the free zones, as well as the wide variety of exportable offer for the Middle East market. He highlighted the diversification of the Costa Rican export sector and the advantages offered by its geographical position to satisfy different markets.
“The United Arab Emirates is the second largest economy of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and is the sixth destination for our exports in the Middle East. We have many possibilities to continue growing and to build together a long-term and strategic relationship. We want an attractive relationship for all parties and in which we all benefit”, explained President Alvarado.
Search for new export niches
The Costa Rican delegation closed its day with meetings with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Emirate of Sharjah and with the Chamber of Commerce of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi to explore commercial exchange opportunities, especially to boost Costa Rican exports to the Emirati country.
At the meeting of President Alvarado with Abdullah Mohamed Al Mazrouei, President of the Chamber of Commerce of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, he showed interest in supporting air connectivity with our country, as well as in commercial exchange. The meeting served to request support from this emirate for an upcoming Buyers Trade Mission (BTM), a more important business event for the national export sector.
This event seeks that Costa Rican companies participate in a business conference with international buyers. In this way, the agricultural, food, specialized industry and supply companies for production chains have access to meetings with potential buyers to increase their business and bring well-being to their communities.
Later, the president closed his day with a meeting with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Emirate of Sharjah, where he addressed the identification of new market niches for Costa Rican exports, including the insect industry, since Sharjah buys pupae of butterflies from Costa Rica and medical equipment.
True commitment
The president of the Sharjah Chamber commented that they share with our country the commitment to prioritize education and culture and that when a high-level representation of that emirate visited Costa Rica in 2018 they found a lot of potential in technology, innovation and tourism, for what they are very interested in cooperation mechanisms.
On the other hand, the Costa Rican President, within the framework of the Gulfood Fair to be held in Dubai in February 2022, requested to hold a commercial promotion event in Sharjah for Costa Rican businessmen visiting the fair.
Costa Rica exports quality products such as specialty coffee; Banana puree for industrial use; mixers and drinks; raw, white, organic sugar; and dehydrated fruits. With this, it has managed to consolidate its presence in the market and position Costa Rican exporters as a business alternative in the Middle East.
