Pestel Costa Rica

Draft 300860 PESTEL Analysis Costa Rica Political Analysis • Costa Rica has emphasized strongly in the development of democracy and respect for human rights. • Costa Rica lacks armed forces therefore they are free of military infringement. • Costa Rican law protects the formation of contracts. • Costa Rican law protects Copyrights, Trade Marks, Encrypted Program-Carrying Satellite Signals, Industrial Designs, Patents, Geographical Indication, Trade regulations & tariffs. • The US is Costa Rica’s main trading partner Anti-trust laws are enforced in Costa Rica to maintain fairness between businesses. (Central America Data, 2008) • Costa Rica has no official pricing rules. • Individuals and businesses living in Costa Rica are obliged to pay income tax only on income derived from sources within the country. • Minimum wage in Costa Rica ranges from 107,883 Costa Rican colones a month for domestic employees to 397,665 colones for university graduates. • The workweek is 6 days. • A 60% pension in the last 240 months in mandatory after 62 years. Economic Analysis Costa Rica is part of U. S. -Central America Free Trade Agreement (U. S. -CAFTA) and TLC which means Free Trade Agreement. • A big advantage of Costa Rica is its relationship with the US and the fact the Costa Rica is the US most important trade partner. • Currency: Costa Rica Colon (CRC). • 1 US dollar is equivalent to 504. 84 colones. • Property taxes are only 0. 25 % • GDP (2010): $38. 27 billion. • GDP PPP (2009 est. ): $48. 19 billion. • Inflation (2010 est. ): 6. 9%. • Real growth rate (2010 est. ): 3. 6%. • Per capita income: (2009) $6,900; (2010 est. PPP) $10,569. • Unemployment (2010 est. ): 6. 7%. Social Analysis • Population: 4,579,000 • 94% are white and mestizos, 3% are African origin, 1% Amerindians, 1% Chinese, and 1% other. • Religion: Roman Catholic 76. 3%, Evangelical Protestant 13. 7%, other 4. 8%, none 3. 2%. • Costa Rica is a community of North American (US American and Canadian) and Australian retirees. • Languages: Spanish, with a south western Caribbean Creole dialect of English spoken around the Limon area. • Education: Years compulsory–9. Attendance–99% grades 1-6; 71% grades 7-9.

Literacy–96%. • Health: Infant mortality rate – 9. 45/1,000. Life expectancy – men 74. 61 yrs. , women 79. 94 yrs. • Education is Costa Rica is rich due to the fact that there are no armed forces and the money was spent in education instead of an army. • Drinking water Households 94% • Population with access to public health. 95% Technological Analysis • Since the approval of CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement ) in 2007 Costa Rica’s cell phone technology evolved from being only TDMA (oldest cell phone technology) to GSM AND 3G. • In the software area of ?? he Costa Rica has more than 100 companies, of which more than 60% have export experience. • Better productions in the industry with the use of the technologies. • Using technology data and high optical communications investment the countries is focused to reduce the government offices presence and increase the services by internet. Environmental Analysis • high levels of biological diversity with some 12,000 species of plants, 1,239 species of butterflies, 838 species of birds, 440 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 232 species of mammals. In 1995, the government presented a plan to protect 18 percent of the country in national parks and another 13 percent in privately owned preserves. • Some parks now have restrictions on the number of visitors allowed at any given time. • The construction of hotels in some locations has proved ecologically controversial. • In 2005, Costa Rica joined a coalition of tropical developing countries that proposed a “rainforest conservation for emissions” deal at the December United Nations summit on climate change in Montreal. During the 1970s and early 1980s, vast stretches of rainforest were burned and converted into cattle lands, but when the largest importer of Central American beef, the United States, ceased beef imports, Costa Rica was left with millions of acres of cleared land and a lot of cattle. • Today, while deforestation rates of natural forest have dropped considerably, Costa Rica’s remaining forests still face threats from illegal timber harvesting in protected areas and conversion for agriculture and cattle pasture in unprotected zones. The popularity of Costa Rica as an eco-tourist destination makes parks a source of income rather than an expense, and past governments have been known to use park funds for making up budget shortfalls instead of maintaining protected areas. Legal Analysis • Costa Rica’s economic freedom score is 67. 3, making its economy the 49th freest in the 2011 Index. • Costa Rica is ranked 9th out of 29 countries in the South and Central America/Caribbean region.