Costa Rica Has Set its International Relations’ Sights on Greener Pastures.

While Costa Rica cozies up to economic giants like the United States and China, it has left its relationships with neighboring Panama and Nicaragua on the back burner. While the countries maintain cordial relationships, they have neglected to look further into opportunities to work together on strategic and beneficial initiatives. Analysts claim that this was not the case several years ago under the administration of President Pacheco.

Costa Rica has decided not to involve itself in important regional conferences and councils such as the Central American Parliament and the Central American Court of Justice. Instead, the country has been busy working out an agreement with Venezuela’s Petrocaribe, a trade agreement with countries of the European Union, and political and commercial ties with their new buddy in the east, China.

A Bi-national Summit will be held this September 11 and 12 to promote a united front on issues such as health, commerce, tourism and security between Nicaragua and Costa Rica. However, many critics say that nothing has been resolved at such meetings in the past. A recent conference featuring representatives from both countries to promote tourism to the region found Costa Rica defending its monopoly over North American tourists, as the country is quite fond of its monopolies. Another issue that adds a dose controversy to the relationship between these two countries is Costa Rica’s dredging of the Rio San Juan, which serves as the border between the two countries. The case is currently pending before an International Court.

The date for a summit between Costa Rica and Panama has not yet been set, but the outlook for results emerging from such a meeting are equally pessimistic. A recent meeting between Tourism Institute representatives lead to plans to promote the countries together to the European population. However, Costa Rica again stated their lack of interest in mutual marketing to the U.S. population, which already shows a favoritism toward Costa Rica’s stable and eco-friendly image. As for the rest of Central America, the situation remains the same with Costa Rica distancing itself while opting for relationships that offer a direct benefit rather than uniting with its neighbors to promote overall regional growth.

The question remains, can one blame the government for its work to distinguish Costa Rica from the Central American crowd? With a multi-million dollar marketing campaign promoting Costa Rica Tourism abroad, the country has managed to rake in a yearly income of nearly $2 billion from tourism alone. With world economies waning on all fronts, can the country afford to share the pot, or could joint commerce initiatives and marketing lead to new markets and mutual benefits for all involved?

Photo Courtesy of Google Map.

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Filed under: Business on September 9th, 2008