Costa Rica News - Nov 05, 2005

Costa Rica High in Development

The Trade and Development Index (TDI) of the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) places Costa Rica 35th among 110 nations assessed in relation to trade and development.

The Index measures the degree of integration of trade policies and commerce in the nations studied.

Spain, placed 19th, and Uruguay, 33rd, also placed among the top nations, while Costa Rica surpasses Panama, placed 37th, Chile, 40th, Argentina, 43rd, and Mexico, 49th. Singapore, placed 19th, is the only developing country among the top 20, followed by South Korea, 25th, and Malaysia, 28th.

Construction of the New Highway from Quepos to Domincal to Begin in March of 2006

The Ministry of Transportation just announced that the last 42-kilometer stretch of the costal highway will be finished within two years. Construction is scheduled to start in March of 2006. Hernán Solís, S.A. is the company which will do the 19 million dollar project. When the new stretch is completed it will become the new costal Pan-American Highway replacing the present route which runs through the center of the country. With the much improved infrastructure real estate the highway will skyrocket. Current investors in the Central Pacific and Southern Zone (from Dominical south) will be the first to reap the benefits. The new international airport to be built in the southern zone will further fuel the boom.

Mexico, Costa Rica Leaders to Talk Pact

President Abel Pacheco and his Mexican counterpart Vicente Fox, who arrived in Costa Rica yesterday, will discuss advances in a regional project designed to unite area economies before both head to the Americas Summit in Argentina.

In their meeting yesterday, the two chief executives also were expected to discuss Costa Rica's request for technical assistance to establish an oil refinery, a measure that could help this country to battle high oil prices.

The so-called Plan Puebla-Panama economic pact, an idea Fox first suggested several years ago, is aimed at integrating the region financially and attracting jobs and industry, especially to financially depressed areas such as southern Mexico and rural Central America.

Green Gasoline" Goes On Sale Nov. 15

Come November 15, drivers in Guanacaste and the Central Pacific will be able to fill their gasoline tanks with "gasolina verde" - an alternative fuel mixture of ethanol and alcohol - that will be sold at 62 gasoline stations.

The Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo (Recope) - the state owned oil refinery and gasoline distributor - made the announcement yesterday.

Ethanol has many environmental advantages over gasoline - a major contributor to climate change. It is estimated that a litre of biomass ethanol used to replace a litre of gasoline reduces the accumulation of atmospheric carbon dioxide - a harmful greenhouse gas - by 70 per cent.

Free-Trade Debate at Heart of Americas Summit

After protests and a riot marred the opening of a summit of presidents from the Americas, some leaders will seek on Saturday to unite the hemisphere behind an agreement to revive free-trade talks.

The Free Trade Area of the Americas, or FTAA, scheduled to begin 10 months ago, has been at the heart of U.S. policy in the region. Some of the big Latin economies including Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela threw the brakes on a deal they felt favored the United States.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Latin America's leading foe of U.S. President George W. Bush, arrived at the two-day summit telling anti-Bush and anti-free trade protesters he would "bury" the FTAA.

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