Presidential Race Closer
With only two days before Costa Ricans get set to vote
for a new president, the Partido Liberación
Nacional (PLN) leader, Oscar Arias, is dropping in
the polls, according to the latest poll.
A poll conducted by Unimer-RI places Arias in first
place with 42.6% of the intended vote, down from 49.6%
last week, and second place Ottón Solís
of the Partido Acción Cuidadana (PAC)climbing
fast at 31.5%, up from 26.3% from a few days ago. Read
more...
How to Make A Million Dollars in
Costa Rica?
How can you get your hands on a million dollars in
Costa Rica? The possibilities are endless. Some are
just fantasy, wishful thinking, while others aren't
so legal or moral, depending on your point of view,
and some are just too darn hard work.
One of the possibilities which is quick and can make
you famous at the same time is get on a "reality" program,
you know those television programs on U.S. television
where people make fools of themselves, like the Amazing
Race, which by the way, included a segment on Costa
Rica. Of course you have to follow the clues and be
good at travel in foreign lands, which may limit your
ability to reach the final line for the big prize. Read
more...
Largest Tourism Growth
Costa Rica was the Central American nation most visited
by tourists last year, at 1.5 million, 19.2% more
than in 2004. That figure is almost one fourth of
the overall number of visitors to the region.
According to the data from the World Tourism Organization,
with headquarters in Madrid, Spain, the number of tourists
visiting the Americas went up 14.4% and Costa Rica
was the nation that registered the largest increase,
followed by El Salvador at 18.6 %.
The Organization said that global tourism increased
by 5.5%, meaning 808 visitors throughout the world.
It added that the recovery of tourism that was recorded
in 2004 continued last year, in spite of the consequences
of the tsunami in the Indian Ocean and the longer-than-usual
hurricane season in the Caribbean.
U.S. Investment
Costa Rican Coalition for Development Initiatives manager
Edna Camacho reported that 80% of the direct foreign
investment in Costa Rica in 2005 came from U.S. companies.
Direct investment includes new firms settling in this
country, merger with local or foreign companies operating
here, and the expansion of the ones from abroad.
In 2005, direct investment was us$653 million, of
which us$522 million came from U.S. firms
Devaluation Rate to Slow Down
The Banco Central de Costa Rica (BCCR) announced that
it will lower the daily rate of devaluation from
.15 to .13 of a colon.
Bank president Francisco Gutierrez explained that
the new rate will result in a yearly devaluation of
6.6%, instead of the 8.2%experienced until now.
Thus, it is expected that the current rate of exchange
will go from 500 now to some 530 colones per dollar
at the end of the year.
The announcement was part of the monetary program
of the Banco Central for this year, which is aimed
at returning in 2007 to the 10%inflation a year - which
was recorded between 1999 and 2003.
In 2005 the inflation rate was 14% and for 2006 the
expected inflation rate is 11%.
Study Shows Only Six Nations Achieved
Environmental Goals
A pilot, nation-by-nation study of environmental performance
shows that just six nations - led by New Zealand, followed
by five from northern Europe - have achieved 85 percent
success in meeting a set of critical environmental goals
ranging from clean drinking water and low ozone levels
to sustainable fisheries and low greenhouse-gas emissions.
The report, which has been reviewed by other specialists
both in the United States and internationally, ranks
the United States 28th over all, behind most of Western
Europe, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, Costa Rica and Chile
but ahead of Russia and South Korea. Read on...
U.S. Buys the Most Farm Products
The United States bought 40 to 45 percent of all Costa
Rican farm exports during the last seven years, according
to the Ministerio de Agricultura (MAG) - Ministry of
Agriculture.
The report from a planning unit at the Ministry
points out that Germany is second and purchases 7
percent, followed by Holland, 6 percent, and Belgium,
5 percent.
Coffee, bananas, pineapple, cantaloupe, sugar, cassava,
flowers, and heart of palm are the products with the
largest demand in the U.S. market, according to the
sources.
The New Golden Door to
Retirement and
Living in
Costa Rica.
Over 250,000
copies sold
See a wide selection
of
properties in
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selected
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projects
with amenities for a
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ALL tours are led by Christopher
Howard, the author of 15 editions of the #1 perennial
BESTSELLER "New
Golden Door to Retirement and Living in Costa Rica."
This guide
is a CANDIDATE for the highly PRESTIGIOUS 2008 Benjamin
Franklin Award for Publishing
EXCELLENCE. Christopher
has lived in Costa Rica 25 YEARS, is Costa Rican
CITIZEN.
NOBODY has his PROVEN EXPERTISE or TIME-TESTED
CREDIBILITY. He has
personally helped THOUSANDS of people relocate
SUCCESSFUL
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