Colombian group acquires Costa Rica’s Pops ice cream

Popular Tico brand owns 180 ice cream parlors in Central America and Miami.

Colombian Group Nutresa announced the final purchase of 100 percent of the shares of American Franchising Corp (AFC), owner of Tico-born company Pops ice cream, in a transaction of approximately $110 million.

Nutresa on Monday will take control of Pops’ 180 parlors distributed throughout Central America and in Florida, U.S.

As part of the transaction Nutresa also acquired the production plant, Entrepans coffee shops and the distribution franchises of Haagen Dazs and General Mills (Nature Valley, Betty Crocker and Chex Mix) in the region.

Pops started operations in 1968 in San José, with a single ice cream parlor and a small production plant, both located in the same building. It subsequently expanded to the Central American region.

Posted by Costa Developers

Costa Rican economy grows more than regional average in 2012

The Costa Rican economy will finish the year with 5 percent growth, a figure that is above the 3.2 percent average for Latin America, according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

The most dynamic sectors are transport, storage and telecommunications services, financial intermediation, insurance, real estate and manufacturing.

The study also says the government fiscal deficit will close at 4.5 percent. The fiscal deficit in November was 4 percent.

ECLAC predicted the country’s growth will drop to 3.5 percent next year.

In August, Costa Rica’s Central Bank predicted growth of 4.8 percent in 2012.

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Davivienda Financial Group takes control of HSBC

Bank plans to expand operations in El Salvador, Honduras and Panama.

Colombian bank Davivienda took over this week HSBC Bank operations in Costa Rica, after formalizing the acquisition of its shares last Friday.

Davivienda’s total investment was $300 million for all companies and businesses belonging to Grupo Financiero HSBC in the country, including a stock brokerage firm and an insurance agency.

Efraín Forero, president of the group, believes that Costa Rica is “promised land” for foreign companies in Central America and Colombia. He also confirmed the bank plans to approve personal loans or mortgages “within minutes.”

Davivienda is developing a strategy called “multilatina,” with $25 billion in assets, placing it 26th in the ranking of Latin American banks.

After the Costa Rica venture, the company plans to open businesses in El Salvador, Honduras and Panama.

HSBC’s 800 employees will remain at their jobs.

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EU maintains trade benefits for Tico products

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Costa Rica is on a list of countries that will maintain trade benefits in European countries, according to a report released Wednesday by the European Union.

Bananas are one of the most important products that will maintain tariff advantages to enter European nations, but Costa Rica hopes that an Association Agreement with the EU, scheduled to start in January 2013, also will create new opportunities to enter the European market for products such as sugar, meat, yuca and textiles.

The EU is the second-largest trading partner for Costa Rica. In 2011, exports totaled some $1.8 billion, representing 19 percent of total exports. The number of products exported to Europe was 806, from 547 companies, according to the Foreign Trade Ministry.

A total of 12 nations will leave the European system of benefits known as Generalized System of Preferences, after having been cataloged in recent years as economies of upper-middle income by the World Bank.

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Costa Rica seeks to attract more tourists from the Middle East.

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A new agreement will help boost the number of flights from the region.

Costa Rica and Qatar on Today signed the Central American country’s first open-skies agreement with a Middle Eastern country, aimed at boosting tourism from that region.

The Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT) said in a press release that the agreement allows flights and airline operations between the two countries.

Tourism Minister Allan Flores said the agreement also will allow airlines to connect from other countries and transfer passengers between flights.

Air Transport Vice Minister Luis Araya said that in the last two years, Costa Rica has signed more open-skies agreements than in the past 100 years.

“These air transport links are vital in an economy in which tourism is our main economic development engine”.

Qatar, an emirate in the Middle East, has the highest gross domestic product per capita in the world ($102,700), and Costa Rica hopes to become a favorite holiday destination for its nationals.

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Costa Rican exports increase by 8.4 percent in first three quarters of 2012

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Most buyers of Tico exports are countries with free trade agreements with Costa Rica.

The value of Costa Rican exports increased by 8.4 percent in the first nine months of this year, totaling $8.5 billion, the Foreign Trade Ministry (COMEX)

Recent figures show consistent growth in exports of free-zone and agricultural products.

According to COMEX, countries with free trade agreements with Costa Rica account for 68 percent of Tico exports so far this year. Costa Rican exports to those countries increased by 8.9 percent in the first three quarters, from $5.2 billion during the same period in 2011 to $5.7 billion this year.

North America (the United States and Canada) is the main destination for Costa Rican exports, accounting for 42.5 percent of total exports (an 8.8 percent increase from 2011). Next is the European Union, with 18.1 percent (a 6.9 percent increase), Central America, with 14 percent (a 6.4 percent increase), and Asia, with 12.8 percent (a 24.6 percent increase).

Central Bank projections show the country is on track to meet – and likely surpass – this year’s export target, estimated at $15.8 billion in goods and services.

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