Five years after the establishment of bilateral ties, Costa Rica is looking to boostrelations with China in the investment and tourism sectors, Costa Rican Ambassador to ChinaMarco Ruiz said Thursday.
Calling the present "an era of development" for bilateral ties, Ruiz expressed Costa Rica'shopes to diversify exports to China, as well as attract more Chinese tourists and investment, inorder to turn Costa Rica into a platform for China to enter other central American countries.
"If the first three, four years were meant for consolidating the diplomatic bond established in2007, starting now, we are getting ready to embrace the enormous opportunities that thisfriendly and mutually beneficial cooperative relationship presents," Ruiz said in an exclusiveinterview with Xinhua.
Costa Rica is working to bring more investment to its infrastructure sector in accordance with adevelopment plan established during Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla's state visit toChina in August, he said.
He pointed out the potential of deepening cooperation in the animal husbandry, lightmanufacturing and business sectors, highlighting Costa Rica's experience in providingbusiness support for major multinational groups and its population of well-trained professionals.
"We have the perfect conditions for Chinese companies that aim to enter Latin America, NorthAmerica and the Caribbean to establish themselves," he said.
Costa Rica now allows Chinese citizens to visit the country on a valid visa issued by the UnitedStates, Canada, the European Union, Japan and the Republic of Korea and will initiate aprogram next year to bring Chinese businessmen from Beijing and Shanghai to visit CostaRica.
Procedures for obtaining business visas will be eased for enterprises that are registered underthe China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, he said.
Ruiz said his country's capital of San Jose will host the 2013 China-Latin America BusinessSummit, with a significant number of Chinese companies being expected to attend.
"We shall make sure that our Chinese guests get to experience Costa Rica's rich tourismduring their stay," he said.
The China-Latin America Business Summit was created by CCPIT in 2007 and constitutes thefirst inter-regional platform between Chinese businesses and their counterparts in LatinAmerica and the Caribbean. The 2012 forum was held in an East China city of Hangzhou.
Ruiz said the country is still working to develop certain parts of its tourism sector. SinceChinese tourists started visiting Costa Rica in 2008, the country has been making preparationsto become one major destination for Chinese travelers.
Ruiz said such efforts have even included encouraging tourism-related businesses to pick upand use the Chinese language with the help of scholarships offered by the Chinesegovernment.
Civil aviation administrations have been discussing possibility of opening direct flights betweenChina and Costa Rica next year, he said.
Ruiz admitted that only a relatively small number of Chinese have visited Costa Rica thus far,but predicted the number to grow in the near future.
The two countries established diplomatic ties in 2007. Since then, China has become CostaRica's second-largest trade partner, with trade volume totaling $4.72 billion in 2011.
Costa Rica is the only Latin American economy to maintain a trade surplus with China byexporting computer chips and other electronic parts for hi-tech manufacturing.
Posted By: Josue M
As China gains status and power throughout the world, I feel like it seems predictable that less powerful nations will begin to seek alliances and investments with and from China. They will most likely see this as a promising way to consequently further their own progress as well.
ReplyDeleteOh I forgot to put my name that comment was Meagan Solano...
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