Wednesday, February 4th, 2009
Nicaragua’s tourism sector is celebrating the recent announcement that the government of President Daniel Ortega is going to lift all visa requirements for foreign travelers as an incentive to boost tourism here.
The announcement was made several days ago by Tourism Minister Mario Salinas during the FITUR international tourism trade fair in Spain. President Ortega is expected to sign the measure this week, according to sources at the Nicaraguan Tourism Institute (INTUR). (more…)
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Wednesday, February 4th, 2009
Local Companies Hope to Extend Phone and Internet Services in Costa Rica.
Three telecommunications companies have solicited authorization from the Superintendent of Telecommunications (Sutel) to offer phone and internet services to the Costa Rican public. If approved, this will be the first time that the ex-monopoly Costa Rican Institute of Electricity (ICE) will face competition in the telecom market now that the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) has officially passed. (more…)
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Wednesday, February 4th, 2009
Costa Rican coffee exports in January, the fourth month of the current 2008-09 crop cycle, fell 15% to 119,340 bags of 60 kilograms each, the official Costa Rican Coffee Institute, or Icafe, said Monday.
This compares with Costa Rican exports of 140,655 bags in January last year during the 2007-08 crop cycle (October-September), an Icafe official told Dow Jones Newswires, citing first preliminary figures for the month.
But total Costa Rican coffee exports in the first four months of the 2008-09 crop cycle from Oct. 1 through Jan. 31 were up 6.6% to 324,003 bags, from exports of 303,992 bags in the October-January period of the 2007-08 year.
Physical harvesting of Costa Rica’s 2008-09 crop is now underway across the country’s producing regions but harvest pace has been running about 5% behind last year, Icafe said last month.
Costa Rican coffee production in the current 2008-09 harvest cycle is now forecast to drop 2.9% to 1.822 million bags, from output in the last 2007-08 year of 1.876 million bags, Icafe said last month.
Costa Rican coffee exports in the last 2007-08 crop cycle ended up 8.1% at 1,588,660 bags, from exports of 1,469,811 bags in the 2006-07 harvest year, Icafe said last year.
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Wednesday, February 4th, 2009
Costa Rica expects the European Union to make a new offer on bananas next month in an attempt to resolve the world’s longest-running trade dispute, Foreign Trade Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz said on Friday.
Settling the disagreement would end a decades-long dispute that has poisoned relations among dozens of countries and remove an obstacle to an overall deal in the World Trade Organization’s Doha round to free up global commerce.
It would also help foster trade ties between Europe and Latin American countries grouped in the Central American Customs Union, which is negotiating a trade deal with Brussels. (more…)
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Wednesday, February 4th, 2009
The government forced Ennio Rodríguez to step down Thursday from his post as director of the state National Housing Mortgage Bank (BANHVI) after learning Rodríguez used bank funds to pay for a ¢660,000 ($1,140) lunch.
The whopping bill was paid Nov. 11 at an exclusive western San José restaurant during a work meeting of 12 people, Rodríguez told reporters.
However, Rodríguez had told the bank the meeting consisted of only six people. (more…)
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