A business meeting between Rodrigo Chaves and the Minister of Foreign Trade and President of the PROCOMER Board of Directors, Manuel Tovar within the framework of President’s tour in Europe was organized by the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promoter (PROCOMER) in the Netherlands (Países Bajos in Spanish) with the aim of strengthening trade relations, attracting investment and maintaining the volume of Costa Rican exports to this destination.
Rodrigo Chaves, the director of the PROCOMER Office in the Netherlands, Alexander Román and more than 40 companies including buyers of national goods, investors, airlines, innovation centers, research and development centers, universities, accelerators, logistics service providers, and the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp-Bruges attended the meeting.
The strategic importance of Costa Rica for the Netherlands on issues such as investment, technology and innovation, due to human talent in various sectors was highlighted by Chaves during his speech. Although the pioneering position of the country in the export of agricultural products such as pineapples, bananas, cassava (yuca) and coffee was mentioned by the President, he noticed the lack medical devices, which are currently Costa Rica’s main export product.
He said that citing of figures about the great commercial relationship that unites the countries could be continued and emphasized on the importance of the people standing beyond the numbers, who will get more and better jobs and opportunities for personal fulfillment and professional, will be able to dream of a better future due to the growth of the countries’ economies and companies. That is why he firmly believes that, in these times of change, when technological progress and climate change impose new challenges and needs, the public and private sectors must join forces to achieve the shared prosperity that they all seek.
Common characteristics of Costa Rica and the Netherlands such as sustainability, openness to trade were underlined during the meeting by Minister Tovar. The both countries are food producers and have a strategic geographical position in their regions, but Costa Rica and the Netherlands are more likely to become allies than competitors.
According to Tovar, 43% of the total exported to this region make the Netherlands Costa Rica’s main trading partner in the European Union. Quality goods in sectors such as precision, medical equipment and agriculture are provided due to varied and differentiated offer of the countries. In its turn, the Netherlands complements Costa Rica with other goods from the chemical, electrical and electronic sector, among others. That’s why strengthening ties and fostering a closer commercial relationship, allowing the countries to increase trade flows and knowledge transfer in both ways are vital.
Strategic issues for Costa Rica such as investment opportunities were addressed by the country’s authorities and the benefits of the supply of goods and services in all sectors, with the aim of strengthening exports to the Dutch market and were widely highlighted at the meeting. Costa Rica was additionally promoted by the delegation of the country as a strategic partner with attributes highly appreciated by consumers around the world, such as sustainability, talent, education, peace, democracy, health and legal certainty.
Goods from the sectors of precision and medical equipment (51%), food industry (22%), fruits, vegetables, legumes and roots (20.8%), plants, flowers and foliage (3%) and chemical industry (1.4%) were exported by Costa Rica to the Netherlands in 2022.
Electrical and electronic products (19%), chemicals (18.7%), food industry (18.4%), precision and medical equipment (10.9%) and plants, flowers, and foliage (10.1%) were imported by the country from the Netherlands.
Costa Rica’s main trading partners in the European Union are The Netherlands, Belgium (28%) and Spain (7%). Additionally, as Trademap reports, Costa Rica was the Netherlands’ 33rd trading partner and its main Central American partner in 2021.
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