Costa Rica-U.S. Chamber to Boost Nation's Profile
by Doreen Hemlock

Add a new international business group to the list in South Florida: the Costa Rica-U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The group is the brainchild of Costa Rica-born Gerardo Borbon, a 25-year South Florida resident who recently retired as a Latin American manager for a U.S. company.

His goal: to boost the profile of Costa Rica, the nation of 4 million residents often dubbed the "Switzerland of Central America" for abolishing its army in 1949.

Borbon hopes the chamber can promote trade as well as cultural and educational opportunities, including the Harvard-affiliated INCAE business school in Costa Rica.

The launch comes as Congress debates a U.S. free trade accord with the Dominican Republic and five Central American nations, including Costa Rica. A vote is due this summer.

Borbon said he backs the agreement, called DR-CAFTA, as a "win-win" for all nations involved.

"I see DR-CAFTA helping motivate small and medium-sized companies in Central America to access the U.S. market," Borbon said.

Costa Rica already shares strong trade ties with Florida, ranking as the state's seventh-largest trade partner last year. Two-way trade in goods totaled $3.65 billion, with Costa Rica buying such items as electronics parts and selling medical devices and computer chips among other items to the state, Florida data show.

The new Costa Rica-U.S. Chamber is a member of the Association of Bi-National Chambers of Commerce of Florida, or ABiCC, an umbrella group of more than 40 bi-national chambers.

It is separate from a veteran Central American business group in Miami known as the Central America-U.S. Chamber of Commerce.