Costa Rica To Approve Peru FTA Deal Later This Year

Costa Rica is set to approve a free trade agreement (FTA) with Peru, according to Sara Faingezicht, Costa Rica's Ambassador in Lima.

Faingezicht said Costa Rica's legislature would most likely be approving the agreement by the end of the year, and said the treaty would open up markets in both countries.

"The ratification is in its second debate in the legislature, which will not present any discussions. We hope that it is ready by the end of the year," Faingezicht was quoted as saying by website Peruthisweek.com.

Last year, trade between the two countries reached US$50 million, which, Costa Rica's minister of foreign trade said, could double or triple after the trade agreement comes into effect.

Meanwhile, Jorge Sequeira, head of the Foreign Trade Corporation of Costa Rica (Procomer), said the county's business chambers had high expectations for the trade agreement.

Sequeira said the agreement would be beneficial to Costa Rica's medicine, tyre, and plastic industries, among others.