Last year, India overtook China as the world’s most populous country. Today it has 1,417 million inhabitants and it is estimated that just over 50% are middle class.This is a class willing to pay for Western products and, in addition, learn about other cultures beyond Europe, their traditional travel destination.
And this is where Costa Rica comes into play in the words of Sumit Seth, Indian ambassador to our country, in an interview.From his country’s embassy in Panama – where he is also in charge of Costa Rica and Nicaragua – Seth is in charge of strengthening commercial, cultural and educational ties between his country and the three assigned ones.
But there is a special interest in the relationship between India and Costa Rica being closer. There are several examples that Seth revealed on his most recent trip to San Jose:
In our country there are 22 Indian companies with operations here, including Havells Sylvannia, Fiserv, Infosys, Cognizant and CSS Corp. Costa Rica has the largest number of Indian food restaurants in Central America: approximately 30.
Latin America (and the country is no exception to this) has resources that attract the attention of the Indian Ocean giant.And a more recent and no less important one, although he did not explicitly say names and surnames: our nation not only has the plant of one of the largest semiconductor companies in the world (Intel).
If not, the United States wants to position our country in this industry. And India also has experience in this area and, furthermore, knows that the world – especially the powers – has a special appetite for semiconductors.
Trade and tourism
Ambassador Seth wants Costa Rica and India to increase their trade and tourism exchange.The trade balance between both countries is negative for our country, according to data provided by the Foreign Trade Promoter (Procomer).At the end of 2023, Costa Rica imported goods worth $253 million. And the South Asian nation bought $57 million worth of products from us.
What is sold to India?
Aluminum scrap
Raw wood
Iron or steel scrap
Walnut and palm kernel
Prepared citrus fruits
Serum infusion and transfusion equipment
Cardboard paper for different uses
Others
What do we buy?
Automobiles (for tourism or transportation of people)
Medicines
Binding preparations for agricultural use
Textiles and clothing
Intermediate iron and steel products
Motorcycles and velocipedes with auxiliary motor
Insecticides and fungicides
Iron or steel articles
Others
The diplomat assures that Costa Rican businessmen have great business opportunities in India, especially due to the volume of the market. But, also, because they can offer differentiated products, with added value.
Regarding tourism, Seth expressed that Costa Rica can take advantage of its good global name in ecotourism. This can become an attractive factor for millions of Indians who desire new experiences.
The Costa Rican Tourism Institute detailed that in the last three years there has been an increase in visits by citizens with Indian passports:
2021: 2,925
2022: 6,997
2023: 11,153
Many of these tourists are residents of the United States and Canada who have Indian roots; others, however, travel up to an entire day from their country to ours.Ambassador Seth emphasizes that Costa Rica can increase these flows by promoting the “Pura Vida” lifestyle there.
A population that leverages the economy
To put it in perspective: one in five people under the age of 25 in the world is from India and 47% of Indians are under 25 years of age.Two-thirds of Indians were born after their country liberalized its economy in the early 1990s.
This group of young Indians is becoming the largest source of consumption and labor in the economy of knowledge goods and the Internet, according to different international studies.
Managing to capture a minimum percentage of this population – and in general of the 1.4 billion inhabitants – would translate into great benefits for companies that decide to target this market with goods and services, said Ambassador Seth.
