During a ceremony Friday attended by President Oscar Arias, the computer company Intel released the results of an economic impact study conducted to analyze the success of its Costa Rican operation, according to a statement from Casa Presidencial.

Intel began operations here in 1998 with 2,300 direct employees, and by May 2006 this number had grown to almost 3,500, the statement said.

Intel employees earn an average salary of $836 per month, almost double the national average monthly salary of $438, according to the study, carried out by Consejeros Económicos y Financieros S.A.

The company’s Costa Rican branch first specialized in microprocessor assembly, and it has grown to also carry out software and circuit design research and new technology trials and provide financial support services for Intel’s operations around Latin America.

Arias used the occasion to call for more foreign investment in Costa Rica and to rally support for the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA), which is being debated in the Legislative Assembly.

Ratification of the agreement is key to economic growth, Arias said. Without it, “the government will not be able to do the things it has to do for the good of everyone, which is why we cannot postpone important decisions that allow us to leap toward development,” Arias said, according to the statement. 

-Tico Times