By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency, known as CINDE by its acronym in Spanish, announced Monday, the multinational companies located in the country created 10,141 net jobs in 2019.

According to CINDE, this is a record number even though 2018 foreign direct investment global inflows continued to decrease and are expected to maintain that downward trend this year.

CINDE's base of over 300 multinational companies now represent an aggregate of 118,245 direct jobs and 58,980 indirect jobs at the end of 2019.

This dynamic performance is the result of a 9.9% yearly net employment growth since 2015, said CINDE.

According to the agency, this year, 547 new jobs were created outside of the Greater Metropolitan Area , which has had an average 10.1% annual growth rate for the past four years.

"In an international context where foreign direct investment inflows continue to drop and there are more competing countries, it is truly remarkable to share these positive results, and they encourage us to continue contributing to our country's development," said Jorge Sequeira, managing director of CINDE. "We are committed to excelling in our position as the world's top investment promotion agency, with a client-centric vision that provides a smooth landing in the country, and where CINDE becomes a true ally for they company´s strategic business development."

According to the agency, the job growth that multinationals have had in regions outside the metro area are a results of an active engagement with the community, local governments and the schools in each region.

A constant employment growth by multinational companies demonstrates their strong footprint and trust in Costa Rica as a strategic operation with 60% of them increasing the number of jobs in 2019, and 6% maintain their employability levels said the government agency, said Sequeira.

An example provided by the agency is Amazon Costa Rica. The company employs more than 9,500 people in the country. Its virtual services center comprises 1,050 positions, all under a full work-from-home framework. This scheme allows for 53% of the jobs to be held by people in regions outside the metro area. Also, 50% of the positions are held by women.

Multinational companies actively promote women's participation in the labor force. In 2019, 50% of the net new jobs created by these companies were held by women, compared to country's average of 39%, said CINDE.

“By attracting and strengthening foreign direct investment, Costa Rica improves the diversification of its economy while taking advantage of the opportunities provided by the fourth industrial revolution so that the country can successfully become an active part of the knowledge economy,” said the government agency in its statement.

According to CINDE 44 new investment projects was created this year. Of those 19 are new companies and 25 are diversification projects, which means new processes and divisions.

In addition, CINDE confirmed the consolidation of operations by the portfolio of multinational companies in Costa Rica, which resulted in 56 reinvestment projects: a record number for reinvestments. Of those 31 reinvestments by expansion and 25 projects by diversification.












 
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