Archive for the 'Business and Economy' Category

Cell Phone Service on Highway Deteriorates

Wednesday, May 14th, 2008

<strong>by Rod Hughes</strong>
Want to call ahead for reservations in Panama as you drive south on the InterAmerican Highway from San Jose to Paso Canoas on the Costa Rica-Panama border? Better make your call before you leave San Jose, even if you have your cell phone with you.
[…]

Colon Still Continues Fall But Trading Frenzy Abates

Wednesday, May 14th, 2008

by Rod Hughes
The value of the dollar against the colon continued its rise yesterday but the trading frenzy of Friday has calmed. Yesterday´s hike of 3.87 colones per dollar was only slightly higher than the Monday rise of 3.44 and much less than the sharp jump of 9.50 registered on […]

Colon Wildly Fluctuates to Foil Speculators

Tuesday, May 13th, 2008

by Rod Hughes
Internet money speculators are playing hob with the value of the colon. Late last year, Costa Rica raised the value of its colon against the dollar and for a time only about 487 of the local currency was needed to buy a dollar. Last week, it went up […]

Costa Rican Aerospace Consortium Inks Contract

Tuesday, May 13th, 2008

by Rod Hughes
It may not be any threat to Boeing yet, but a new consortium, Costa Rican Aerospace Alliance (Coraal), has signed a contract with Ad Astro Rockets to build a platform on which to test Dr. Franklin Chang’s plasma rocket engine, the daily La Nacion reported late last week.
[…]

Tico Companies Marketing Their Own Brands

Tuesday, May 13th, 2008

by Rod Hughes
We never thought we would ever see it, but Costa Rican companies are outsourcing in order to field their own brands even as the country woos foreign automotive parts firms to settle here. But the lure of cheap Asian labor is too good to resist.
[…]

Government to Give Aid to Poverty-Stricken Mothers

Friday, May 9th, 2008

by Rod Hughes
Only two days after President Oscar Arias told Latin American nations of his plan to boost aid to farmers in the face of a worsening world food crisis, the government announced that it would give 50,000 colones per month to the most poverty-stricken women in the country.
[…]

Arias Pledges $70 Million Ag Stimulus

Friday, May 9th, 2008

by Rod Hughes
MANAGUA, Nicaragua– President Oscar Arias pledged his government to spend $70 million in agricultural stimulus in the face of the worsening world food price crisis. He told the summit of Latin American respresentatives that he would present his plan to Costa Rican Legislative Assembly within the next few […]

Gov’t Cautious about Venezuelan Aid Offer

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

by Rod Hughes
It is a sign of the Arias Administration’s lukewarm relations with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez that the government is treating an offer of $100 million in economic aid as if it were a Trojan horse. But the most enthusiasm Costa Rican ambassador to Nicaragua Antonio Tacsan will allow […]

Weird Weather Blamed for Crop Losses

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

by Rod Hughes
Apparently, Mother Nature is throwing curves at Costa Rican meteorologists. Weathermen predicted that rains would begin earlier this year, in April instead of May. And they did, for about three or four days in mid-April. Then the sun came out and stayed out.
The […]

Casinos Here May Fire 3,000 Employees

Tuesday, May 6th, 2008

by Rod Hughes
New regulations on Costa Rica’s 48 casinos may cause those businesses to lay off 3,000 employees over the next several months, Jorge Hidalgo, vicepresident of the Costa Rica Casino Association told the daily paper La Nacion.
Most telling of the four decrees and […]