Archive for February, 2009
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
A former junior minister in Northern Ireland died while on a diving holiday in Costa Rica, it was revealed today.
James Leslie, 50, an Ulster Unionist member of the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister in 2002, is suspected to have suffered a heart attack.
The married father-of-one was holidaying in central America with friends.
A former Hong Kong banker, his passions included the environment, hill-walking and sailing.
The former North Antrim Assemblyman, whose father owned an extensive farm in the rural constituency near Ballymoney, was married to second wife Judena and they had an eight-year-old daughter.
He joined the Conservative Party in 2006 after claiming Northern Ireland politics had gone stale.
Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey said: “The sudden passing of James Leslie has come as a profound shock to all involved in politics in Northern Ireland.
“As a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly and then as a junior minister in the Executive, James made a significant contribution to politics at a time of great challenge in Northern Ireland, as our society emerged from the pain of the Troubles.
“For James’ life to end at a time when he still had much to offer our society is a matter of profound regret.”
Mr Leslie first won his Assembly seat in 1998, briefly becoming a junior minister in 2002. He didn’t stand in the 2003 election and devoted his energies to bringing about stronger ties between the Conservatives and the UUP as well as his willow renewable business.
He was in the working party which spearheaded moves to bring the two parties together and stood unsuccessfully for the Conservatives in the 2007 Assembly elections in North Down.
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Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
After weeks of negotiations, some of the disgruntled employees from the recently defunct Domino’s Pizza chain in Costa Rica are finally getting their piece of the pie.
At least 17 employees, who were owed less than ¢200,000 (about $358), got paid in full last Friday by representatives of the Costa Rican franchise, said Labor Ministry spokesman Giovani Díaz.
On Jan. 30, the companies Grupo de Mozzarella and Senderos de Poás, owners of the country’s Domino’s Pizza restaurants, abruptly closed the nine pizzerias throughout the greater San José area, leaving more than 120 employees jobless and without any type of remuneration.
The owners gave employees less than a day’s notice before closing down the nine restaurants, allegedly citing a fabricated health hazard as an excuse to evacuate the premises so they could empty the locales. The restaurants were cleared out of all their equipment by the next day (TT, Feb. 20).
On Tuesday, 37 employees who are owed ¢200,000 to ¢400,000 (about $358 to $717) by the Mexican group are expected to receive their checks in their entirety.
For the remaining 60 employees, who are owed more than ¢400,000 (about $717 or more), they would receive their first payment instalment covering 50 percent of the total amount this Wednesday.
The payments being made to the employees include vacation time, aguinaldo (end-of-year bonus), severance pay and outstanding salary for the last two weeks worked.
The outstanding total owed will be made in two separate payments: one on March 27 and the final payment on April 27, said Henry Acuña, a former Domino’s employee who is acting as the representative for employees of the Escazú branch.
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Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
While some foreign companies in Costa Rica like Sylvania and Merck Sharp & Dome, are scaling down their operations here, others like Arcus is setting up shop, who yesterday announce the opening of a Near-Shore Solutions Centre in San José.
The company says it is investing more than us$2 million dollars to begin its operations in Costa Rica.
Arcus, an internationally recognized talent management solutions company, founded in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, announced today that it is finalizing its expansion plans to open its Latin American headquarters in ULTRAPARK, in Heredia.
As part of the Arcus commitment to Costa Rica and its people, the company has signed a five year lease for space in ULTRAPARK and has applied for Free Trade Zone status. “We opened our Latin American headquarters to provide additional resources for our talent management solutions,” said Douglas Firestone, President and CEO of Arcus.
Arcus is one of the 27 companies attending the bilingual job fair this weekend with its eyes on hiring a staff of 70 in areas of research specialist/recruiting assistant, recruiters, desktop support specialist, administrative assistant, call centre agents, sales representatives and project managers.
“I am extremely excited to be relocating to Latin America and play a role in the Arcus expansion plans as we seek to truly build and develop a team of professionals devoted to our near shore operations,” commented Steven S. Wolfe, General Manager. “I look forward to building a team that together, can play a significant role in the company’s overall success.”
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Monday, February 23rd, 2009
Costa Rica is located in Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Nicaragua and Panama. It experiences tropical and sub tropical climate all the year. So if you are looking for the romantic, tropical vacation in a luxurious hotel or resort, on an isolated, white sand beach, then you should definitely go to enjoy and get lost in the heavenly beauty of Costa Rica. It is the best beach vacation for you and your family.
In all, Costa Rica can be regarded as the “pure life”. This place is abound with the innumerable gorgeous beaches, stunning natural scenery, and even thrills seeking adventures. So whether you are a beach bum, surf nut, nature enthusiast or just someone looking to chill out and escape the world, come to Costa Rica and experience a vacation like no other. (more…)
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Monday, February 23rd, 2009
Costa Rica’s Seguros del Magisterio, the first authorized competitor of state-run Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS), plans to launch operations in about two months, its president Santiago Araya told BNamericas.
The new insurer plans to sell life, accident and health insurance, targeting middle to lower-income people, SMEs and cooperatives.
The company is currently working on getting authorization from the industry watchdog for its products and distribution channels.
The country’s pension regulator Supen is currently handling insurance licenses until the creation of the insurance sector watchdog.
Seguros del Magisterio is the for-profit initiative of Sociedad de Seguros de Vida del Magisterio Nacional, a non-profit insurer provider operating since 1920 that offers mandatory life insurance to all workers in the public and private education sectors.
The life insurance coverage offered by Sociedad de Seguros de Vida del Magisterio Nacional has a monthly cost of 7,320 colones (US$13) and pays a lump sum benefit of 15mn colones.
The institution has 136,000 associated individuals.
Seguros del Magisterio will be headquarters in capital San José and will use the 12 branches of Sociedad de Seguros de Vida del Magisterio Nacional located outside the capital.
State-run INS is so far the only player operating in the Costa Rican insurance market.
In July 2008, President Óscar Arias signed a law authorizing the opening up of the insurance market.
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Monday, February 23rd, 2009
1- LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.
Costa Rica is among the most highly sought-after tourist destinations. Its strategic position in the heart of the Western Hemisphere, infrastructure, access to international markets, labor quality and cost, as well as its government’s positive attitude towards foreign investment, make Costa Rica an ideal setting for retiring, investing, or living. Costa Rica’s natural and geographical diversity provides sound options for a wide range of luxury, retirement and vacation homes.
2- THE VIEW YOU WERE LOOKING FOR.
Costa Rica covers 19,730 square miles (51,100 km2), and though it accounts for only 0.3 per cent of the world’s land area, it contains 6 per cent of its biodiversity. Whether you are looking for an ocean, city or mountain view, there is something for everyone in Costa Rica. (more…)
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Friday, February 20th, 2009
The company Seguros del Magisterio S.A. could make Costa Rican history becoming the first private company to sell life insurance here, breaking up an 84-year state stronghold on the market.
The pension funds supervising authority (SUPEN), which regulates the insurance market, announced Wednesday it has authorized Seguros del Magisterio to do business here, giving the company one month to submit specific plans.
The private insurance company must also deposit $3.4 million into an account in the Central Bank.
Until now, Seguros has only been allowed to insure teachers and their families, offering 22 different insurance policies to some 40,000 individuals. The new move would open up the entire market to Seguros, which would compete with the National Insurance Institute (INS), the longtime holder of a monopoly on insurance policies.
Seguros del Magisterio CEO Santiago Araya said the strategy to compete with INS will bring affordable prices and accessibility to life insurance for the whole population.
Several other companies and banks are seeking to enter Costa Rica’s insurance market, but Seguros is the first to win official approval.
Last year lawmakers stripped INS of its monopoly as a requirement for entry by Costa Rica into the Central American Free Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA), which Costa Rica officially joined at the start of this year.
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Friday, February 20th, 2009
The Costa Rican government expects to make the final decision regarding the future of the Limón-Moín port complex concession in March or April this year, the general director of the ministerio de Obras Publicas y Transportes (MOPT), maritime and ports division, Héctor Arce, said
The government will base its decision on a report carried out by Dutch consulting firm Royal Haskoning, which analyzed the best options to operate the facilities.
“The study only covered the ports on the Caribbean coast, not on the Pacific coast. The study will serve as the basis for the executive decision regarding the concession process,” Arce said. (more…)
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Thursday, February 19th, 2009
A newly reached Open Skies-type air transport agreement with Costa Rica is good news for travellers and Canadian businesses, announced Canada’s Transport Minister, John Baird, and Minister of International Trade, Stockwell Day.
“This new agreement is a win-win for Canada’s air travel industry and consumers,” said Minister Baird. “This announcement is another example of our Government’s commitment to forming partnerships with other countries, offering competitive airline prices to travellers and boosting our economy.”
This agreement will bring Canada and Costa Rica to a new level of economic co-operation,” said Minister Day. “It will help create new jobs for our economy, expand market potential for our businesses and build connections for our citizens. This agreement is another demonstration of our government’s commitment to further engagement with the Americas.”
The Canada-Costa Rica air transport agreement allows airlines to operate own-aircraft and code-sharing scheduled air services between any bilateral city-pairs. Code-sharing is a type of air service, which allows an airline to sell seats in its name on the flights of another airline. This agreement also allows airlines greater flexibility in scheduling and pricing of flights. In conjunction with these services, airlines will also be permitted to sell services between each other’s country and third countries.
The Canada-Costa Rican air travel market has grown and is now of interest to many Canadian stakeholders. The rights contained in the new agreement are not immediately available, giving airlines of both countries time to consider opportunities and plan accordingly. The governments of both countries have committed to completing the agreement’s implementation requirements to allow the new rights to become available as early as possible.
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Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
Costa Rican telco ICE has signed a contract worth US$ 16.2mn with Teledata Networks under which the latter will provide its BroadAccess-1000E Multiservice Access Gateways, supporting the telco’s plans to deliver triple-play services in Costa Rica.
The project is intended to enable ICE to transform its current network to an IP-based next-generation network (NGN) architecture, and hundreds of BroadAccess-1000E systems are to be deployed across Costa Rica, installed within a fibre-to-the-remote (FTTR) architecture within hardened street cabinets.
“We are proud to be selected by ICE for this important project and to take part in their progress towards a new era of NGN,” said Mauricio Tepper, Associate Vice-President of Sales at Teledata Networks.
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Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
The president of a top Costa Rican soccer team was killed by gunmen on a motorcycle as he was driving his car.
Attorney General Francisco Dall’Anese said Monday’s attack on Adrian Castro may have been a revenge killing. He gave no other details Tuesday.
There was no evidence the 50-year-old team president was targeted because of his connection to the first-division club Puntarenas, which was leading Group A in the Costa Rican league.
The businessman had ties to at least 32 other companies, from real estate to ranching. He was jailed on fraud allegations in 2000 but was freed in a deal with prosecutors.
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Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
Starting next week, it will be easier for women who have had abortions to seek forgiveness from the Catholic Church.
From Feb. 25 to April 19, one week after Easter, the 300 priests in the archdiocese of San José will have the power to forgive women who confess to having had abortions. Normally, only the country’s eight bishops have that authority.
The policy aims to accommodate an annual spike in the number of people who confess during these months, as they prepare to celebrate the death and the resurrection of Christ.
We invite all believers to reestablish their relationship with the Lord, who wants all of us to achieve salvation, said Mario Segura Bonilla, spokesman for the San José archdiocese.
The other eight dioceses throughout the country will likely implement a similar policy, as they have in previous years, said archdiocese press officer Germán Salas.
Abortion is illegal in Costa Rica except when the mother’s life is seriously at risk. About 27,000 illegal abortions are performed here every year, according to the Costa Rican Demographic Association.
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Tuesday, February 17th, 2009
China bought a second batch of bonds of Costa Rica’s internal debt for US$150 million, signalling a new rapprochement between the two countries, the Finance Ministry said Monday.
The investment came on top of US$300 million in bonds China purchased on terms favourable to San Jose, the ministry noted in a statement.
“The People’s Republic of China has purchased the second part of bond debt for US$150 million, under conditions similar to those of the first tract: a period of twelve years, with semiannual interest payments and a 2.0 per cent rate,” the ministry said.
“We are delighted to have completed this second transaction under the same conditions we made last year, following the same procedures that were analysed and endorsed by the General Accounting Office,” said Finance Minister Guillermo Zuniga. (more…)
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Tuesday, February 17th, 2009
Jaco, Costa Rica – Arno (Piper) Tzit, 38, owner of a restaurant along the quiet Pacific coast, was murdered today, apparently for financial motives.
The businessman was found dead in his restaurant in Hermosa. According to Israel’s foreign ministry, Tzit held French citizenship as well, and his family has been notified.
The attack occurred near the resort town of Jaco, two hours south of Costa Rica’s capital city, San Jose. There were no witnesses to the fatal shots, which, according to the local Jewish community, had to do with Tzit’s business debts. “He was everyone’s friend,” said Y., an Israeli living in Jaco. “This is really a tragedy.”
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Tuesday, February 17th, 2009
As the global financial crisis squeezes state finances, President Oscar Arias’ administration has decided to close three foreign embassies and two consulates.
The Costa Rican embassies in Bolivia and Paraguay will close April 30, while the embassy in the Czech Republic will close May 31. Consulates in Puerto Rico and in Chicago, in the U.S. state of Illinois, will also close.
We are trying to shift some of our resources human and financial to Costa Rican soil, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday.
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