Free Zones
The global economy
crisis will hurt the
exports of goods and
services from Costa
Rican free zone parks,
which are going to grow
now at a slower pace
than in 2007.
The Association of Free
Zone Businesses (AZOFRAS
in Spanish) foresees
that the 215 firms under
the special duty-free
regime will increase
their sales abroad by 5
percent only, compared
to 17 percent last year.
However, AZOFRAS
director Timothy Scott
is optimistic about
2009, when he foresees a
10 percent increase in
exports. The 5 percent
increase for the year
means that the overall
sales will be us$5.3
billion, from us$5
billion in 2007.
Scott said that the
lower increase this year
is not a disaster, when
one takes into account
the crisis in the United
States, the leading
market. |
