Costa Rica gets good marks on quality of life, prosperity

Costa Rica has been ranked 32nd of 104 countries in the third edition of the Legatum Prosperity Index. The country ranks higher than any other Latin nation. Uruguay, the next highest, is 33rd.

The rankings are put together by the Legatum Institute with the help of Oxford Analytica and a panel of experts in economics, development, history, sociology and science. The index basically tries to measure the quality of life.

In a press release the institute said that Costa Rica got such a good ranking because it scored high in innovation. The institute said that the country created nearly 4,000 new businesses in 2007.
Legatum says on its Web site that it is an international investment group whose mission is to create a legacy of enduring significance in the global capital markets, while applying the same principles of effective capital allocation to promote sustainable human development. Legatum means legacy or gift, it notes.

The results of the firm's study were reported by a press release. The data was posted to a separate Web site.

In South America Chile ranked 36 after Uruguay and Argentina was 38. The lowest rankings in the region went to Ecuador at 71, Bolivia at 73 and Venezuela at 74. That was a big jump for Venezuela which was rated 101 the year before.
"In South America the countries with the highest ratings in democratic institutions and personal liberty in general get a good total score in prosperity," said Willaim Inboden, senior vice president of the institute. "In the same way nations that have low levels of internal security and protection, such as Venezuela, are found much lower in the general classification."

Finland headed the general classification followed by Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Australia, Canada, The Netherlands, the United States, New Zealand, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Germany.

On the other end of the scale was Yemen at 102, Sudan at 103 and Zimbabwe at 104.

Of Costa Rica and its economic fundamentals, the institute says, based on 2007 figures:
Costa Rica has a high inflation rate of 9 percent as well as an above average unemployment rate of 5 percent. Costa Rican workers have access to a lower than average amount of physical capital, such as office space, factories, and machinery, limiting their production capacity. Costa Rica’s export revenues are low relative to the cost of imports, ranking the country in the bottom quartile on this variable. With a wide lending and borrowing margin, the Costa Rican banking sector displays low levels of competition
and efficiency. However, lending seems strongly regulated as only 1.2 percent of all loans defaulted in 2007, ranking Costa Rica 20th on this variable. Costa Rica enjoys a high level of foreign direct investment equalling 7 percent of GDP, indicating that it is attractive to foreign investors. At 23 percent of GDP, household expenditure is below average, while a domestic savings rate equivalent to 25 percent of GDP seems moderately strong, ranking Costa Rica 62nd, internationally. Costa Rica does not show symptoms of over-reliance on revenues from raw materials exports, with a concentration level of less than 10 per cent.
The institute ranked the country 55 in this category.

Of this country's democratic institutions, the institute said:
Costa Ricans have very high levels of political and civil liberties, but their rights to participate in political processes and to express their opinions and affiliations are limited. Despite this, the country’s political system is characterized by high levels of open political competition amongst multiple parties for appointments at both executive and legislative levels. However, once in power there are few political checks and balances in place to prevent actors from changing legislation arbitrarily. The judicial system is independent from the other branches of government, preventing interference in the legal processes from this source. The current governmental system has been in place for over 80 years, ranking Costa Rica eighth on this measure of political stability.
It ranked Costa Rica 28th in this category.
In all, Costa Rica was ranked second in the hemisphere after Canada and the United States.

Of innovation and entrepreneurship, the institute said:
With approximately 23 personal computers per 100 people, and 67 secure Internet servers per million people, a significant share of the Costa Rican population has access to a moderately fast and secure Internet connection. The country has also managed to achieve impressive ICT exports equivalent to around 29 percent of total exports, and high-tech exports equalling 45 percent of manufactured exports, placing the Costa Ricans in the top 10 on both these indices and pushing up their overall ranking for this sub-index. Value added in the service industry also stands above average at 62 percent of GDP, indicating a fairly strong, service economy. However, with 11 procedures required to set up a business, barriers to entry are well above the global average and may have deterred some entrepreneurs, as only 3,933 new businesses registered in 2007, ranking Costa Rica below the international median. Royalty receipts are also low, meaning that Costa Ricans’ ability to capitalize on their intellectual property is limited. Expenditure on R&D is below the international average at only 0.3 percent of GDP.

The nation was ranked 33rd in this category. The bulk of the exports, although not mentioned by the Institute, were from Intel Corp. and its associates.

Limón, Costa Rica Receives $1 Billion To Boost Tourism

Exciting things are happening on Carribbean coast of Costa Rica.
Here's an article from Niewireinvstor.com

"A billion-dollar gentrification project is going to transform a forgotten port town in Costa Rica into a major Caribbean hot spot. If you get in on the right side of this massive cash injection, you could make a lot of money.

A billion is a lot to spend on a scheme like this. But Limón needs a lot of work.

For much of the last century, Limón was a company town. The controversial United Fruit Company managed the port, built the railroads and bridges, looked after the colonial buildings, and ran the local businesses."

To read full article follow the link: Limón, Costa Rica Receives $1 Billion To Boost Tourism