Big Business with Eyes on CR

General Electric Sees Investment Potential in Costa Rica With the Approval of the TLC
Lloyd Trotter, vice president of General Electric, made his first visit to Costa Rica yesterday meeting with Costa Rican president, Oscar Arias, and the ministro de Ambiente, Roberto Dobles, and the ministro de Comercio Exterior, Marco Vinicio Ruiz.

Trotter assures that with the approval of the Tratado de Libre Comercio (TLC) – free trade agreement with the United States, Costa Rica and Central America will become more competitive.

Exterior commerce minister Ruiz explained the benefits to the local economy of the investments by companies like GE. “This (the meeting) is a demonstration that foreign companies are evaluating Costa Rica for increased investment”, said Ruiz.

Ruiz also assured that the approval of the TLC will also see increased export to the US by the large foreign companies of products manufactured in Costa Rica .

The move by GE to increase investment in Costa Rica is seen as more job opportunities for Costa Ricans. Trotter said that the high education level of Costa Rican workers is one of the reasons for GE to get involve itself in the country.

The subject of environmental matters was also discussed at the meeting, as GE considers itself a manufacturer of environmental friendly products and Trotter commented that the company would make further investment in environmental friendly projects in Costa Rica.

Environment minister Dobles commented that he sees the GE investment as good for the country, not only for the environment, but also because the company is involved in energy projects that could see potential investment in the bio-fuel sector.