Costa
Rica
Ratifies
China
FTA
By
Mike
Godfrey,
Tax-News.com
Costa
Rican
legislators
have
ratified
their
free
trade
agreement
(FTA)
with
China,
which,
once
implemented,
could
see
99.6%
of
the
country's
total
exports
enter
China
duty
free.
Treaty
negotiations
began
in
January,
2009,
and
concluded
with
the
adoption
of
an
agreement
on
April
8,
2010.
Then,
on
May
31
this
year,
Costa
Rica's
Legislative
Assembly
approved
the
deal
during
its
second
reading.
According
to
the
Minister
of
Foreign
Trade,
Anabel
González,
the
FTA
could
come
into
force
as
early
as
July
1.
China
is
Costa
Rica's
second
largest
trading
partner,
and
González
said
much
could
be
learnt
from
China's
economic
expansion,
ability
to
transform
and
adapt
to
the
needs
of
the
market.
Costa
Rica
has
been
working
on
building
its
relationship
with
China
still
further
in
recent
months,
and
maximizing
the
opportunities
in
trade,
investment
and
cooperation
afforded
by
the
FTA
is
regarded
as
crucial.
A
Costa
Rican
mission
to
China
last
October
aimed
at
promoting
the
country
as a
trade
and
investment
destination,
and
it
was
followed
by a
recent
Business
Summit,
which
was
used
to
deepen
understanding
of
business
cultures
and
build
trust,
while
exploring
new
opportunities.
This
bilateral
trade
relationship
has
expanded
rapidly
over
the
past
decade.
From
2000-10,
Costa
Rican
exports
to
China
grew
by
an
average
of
37%
each
year,
with
imports
from
China
increasing
by
29%
annually.
In
addition,
while
in
2000,
this
trade
was
worth
US#91.1
million,
by
2010,
it
amounted
to
US$1.27
billion.
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