Free Trade Zones, the key to the development of the Western Region of Costa Rica

January 2024. With a successful track record in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Costa Rica has had the necessary vision to position itself as an attractive and safe destination for global companies to set up operations. The country’s Free Trade Zone Regime is one of the main benefits that Costa Rica offers as a competitive advantage over other countries in the region.

With a specialized focus on Life Sciences and Knowledge-Intensive Services, the country is an increasingly important player in global value chains. According to data from the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promoter (PROCOMER), as of October 2023, FDI increased 12% in comparison to the previous year.[1]

Evolution Free Zone has a strategic location in the heart of the country, offering the ideal conditions for companies seeking to invest in it. Among them are:

• Strategic location in terms of key access routes to ports, airports, and the capital
• Willingness of the local government to facilitate the installation process and
• Highly skilled human talent

Located in the province of Alajuela, the Free Zone offers new job opportunities to cantons in the Western Region of Costa Rica, such as: Sarchí, Zarcero, Poás, Naranjo, Palmares, San Ramón, Atenas and Grecia. This intelligent, innovative, and sustainable industrial park with 124 hectares of land, aims to generate at least 20,000 quality jobs in the next 15 years.

“The Western Region of the country has human talent with the skills to compete with important regions of the world. Grecia offers a strategic location, with proximity to the other cantons in the region” said the President of CODE Development Group, Álvaro Carballo.

Within the last year, 21,300 jobs were created thanks to FDI, of which more than 1,500 were outside the GMA[2] (Greater Metropolitan Area). To boost investment in these regions (such as the one where Evolution Free Zone is located), the Government offers additional incentives. 

According to Costa Rica’s Free Zone Regime, while the exemption from income taxes for companies located within the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM), will be 100% for a period of up to eight years and fifty percent (50%) for the following four years, for companies located outside the GAM, the exemption will be 100% for a period of up to twelve years, and fifty percent (50%) for the following six years. Representing a significant increase in potential short-term net profits.

This resilient model has been proven in the face of economic crises and even in adverse environments such as the one caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, in which the strength of the Free Trade Zone Regime was evidenced, allowing to maintain the jobs of thousands of employees and the continuity of the businesses of the companies established in the country.

 “Evolution Free Zone aspires to become a global benchmark for attracting investment, transforming the Western region, and generating opportunities for all its stakeholders,” said Carballo.