President John F. Kennedy “At Home” In Costa Rica

In March 1963, President John F. Kennedy received a very, very warm welcome in San Jose, Costa Rica.

In his speech, President Kennedy said that: “I want to express again our thanks to you, we could not feel more at home a thousand miles from the United States than here in Costa Rica.”

It would appear that it was a great day – “un gran dia” for both John F. Kennedy and the Costa Rican people when he visited San Jose in 1963… The Ticos were shouting “Viva Kennedy!” and the reception was so warm that: “Kennedy wistfully remarked to his aides that he wanted to move the Costa Rican crowd to Ohio for the 1964 election so “I might carry the damn state.”

In the last few weeks, we’ve had a few more US companies make big announcements about their new and expanded operations in Costa Rica. Obviously they too feel “at home” here:

• The Associated Creditors Exchange (ACE Global) has invested $2,000,000 and hired 500 Ticos for their operations in Heredia. The company estimates that they will be hiring another 200 people in the near future… The Business Manager Ricardo Esquivel said that the “the kindness of the Costa Ricans plays an important part when it comes to negotiating late payments.”
• Software giant Oracle has also expanded operations in Costa Rica with a new 3,000M2 office in the Forum II Business Center in San Ana. Oracle has invested over $100 million in its Costa Rica expansion although I have been unable to confirm this figure.
• Star Tek originally from Denver, Colorado also announced that they will begin operations in Heredia, Costa Rica in 2010 when they will need approximately 400 staff.’

Another piece of good news that most of the English language press failed to pick up or simply ignored because there was no blood and guts to the story, is the fact that out of 31 nations the Financial Times of London named Costa Rica as the second most attractive location in Central America and the Caribbean for Foreign Direct Investment
(FDI).

Only Puerto Rico – an unincorporated territory of the United States – received more Foreign Direct Investment. The Dominican Republic came after Costa Rica and in fourth place – Panama.

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Written by Scott Oliver, author of How To Buy Costa Rica Real Estate Without Losing Your Camisa and Costa Rica’s Guide To Making Money Offshore and the Director of Costa Rica Living & Retirement – Secrets To Happiness, a new DVD which reveals all with 14 in depth interviews..

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.