Costa Rica Investment Opportunities

Foreigners always have it hard to do business - Costa Rica does not make an except.
Because of the good location of the country, the stable politic, the low income, the low taxes, thousands of foreigners came to open a business and make money in all kind of fields. Especially in tourism, export of tropical plants, exotic fruits, and vegetables as well as exotic wood and textiles.
Tourism is the biggest income of the modern Costa Rica. Most hotels have been built by foreigners. Costa Rica is located between the two biggest consum markets of the world and today every business can be opened as easy as it would be at home and with a little intelligence, some Spanish, and a certain amount of money, your dream of an own business can come true. There are different forms of companies, like:

regular partnership (Razon Social)
limited partnership (Compania)
company with limited responsibility (Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada)
cooperative (Sociedad Anonima)

The "Sociedad Anonima" (S.A.) is the most popular out of all. It is not necessary to have a Costarican partner, but it is never a bad idea.

To found a Sociedad Anonima (S.A.), you need three partners. You are the president, the other is the second president, a secretary and a cashier. One person can take two positions.
The choice of the name is important, It has to be in Spanish or invented and it may not exist already, what can be checked easily in the register. The lawyer will check it for you.
The new law requires a perfect book keeping and they punish hard, if someone does not keep them up to date.
Some lawyers offer to buy a company that already exists to speed up procedure. You have to accept the name, if you buy it and we can not recommend to do so. Better take your time for founding your own.
If your company is registered, you can do all kind of legal business, except buying properties from the governement. The costs to found an S.A. are about US$ 100. Be careful, since some lawyers may try to charge up to US$ 1000 for the same work.

There are several ways to make money in Costa Rica, but there are even more to loose money fast. Many people get cheated again and again so watch out. Even friends of mine lost many thousands of valuable dollars, because they did trust too much. The biggest mistake you can do here. Never trust anyone, except yourself. Check business offers careful and asks experts for help like the "Costa Rican-American Chamber of Commerce". But remember to rely on nobody...........