NEWS
Roche opens $5.5 Mill. Service and Distribution Center in Costa Rica to serve 23 countries
Pharmaceutical invested $5.5 million for new headquarters
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Optimization of its operations for the 23 countries in the Central America and Caribbean region.
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Sustainable building in the process of obtaining LEED® certification.
San Jose, Costa Rica. – August 12, 2015- La Roche pharmaceutical has inaugurated its new Service and Distribution Center in Costa Rica, which will optimize its operations for the attention of 23 countries in Central America and the Caribbean. Thanks to the investment of $5.5 million, the company will also expand its storage capacity of biotechnology products and will implement cutting-edge technologies in the building, committing to the highest environmental and energy saving standards in the world.
The new center will cover an area of 5,000 square meters – 1,100 above the previous building- and is located in the Ultrapark Free Zone, in La Aurora de Heredia. Much of the increase is in the area of distribution -2,200 square meters, thus reflecting the growth of the operation at the regional level. This is expected to increase exports by 50% over the next five years. Additionally, the new building will bring openings for 40 specialized jobs, which will go along with the pharmaceutical’s current 175 direct and indirect employees.
The President of the Republic, Luis Guillermo Solis, said, "Roche’s investment in the country represents a vote of confidence in the capabilities of our human talent, which is a cornerstone of local growth. Costa Rica wants to continue growing hand in hand with important companies such as Roche; through foreign investment, these companies generate thousands of quality job opportunities for Costa Ricans, which is one of the main goals in my administration.”
The Minister of Foreign Trade, Alexander Mora, said: "Roche's announcement is an addition to the list of 10, soon 11, other companies that, in the first eight months of this year, have announced new operations or have expanded existing operations in the country, in the service sector. This is a source for great pride and satisfaction, it implies that they are creating new job opportunities in many fields for Costa Ricans, whose skills and abilities are highly valued by these companies. With this expansion the possibilities of increasing the country's export performance are also enhanced and thus, the scope of the ambitious goals we have set.”
"In recent years, the sustained growth of our operations in Central America and the Caribbean required an expansion of our facilities; both the logistics center as well as the areas of administrative, business and research services. Given this need, and after evaluating various alternatives, we decided to expand the operation in Costa Rica, taking into consideration various factors such as political stability, quality of human talent and legal safeguards, among others," said Stephan Julsing, General Manager of Roche Central America and Caribbean (CAC).
The Director General of CINDE, Jorge Sequeira, said, "Roche has been relying on the Costa Rican talent and capabilities in our country for the growth of their regional operations since 1973. Today we are pleased to inaugurate their new Service and Distribution Headquarters, a $5.5 million investment. Once again, we can see that foreign investment is bringing along direct benefits for the country’s development and that of its people. Congratulations to the 200 employees who currently work in the company and we look forward to more good news in the coming years.”
The company will seek personnel with experience and knowledge in the health, administrative and commercial sectors, among others. Those interested in applying for one of the positions may send their resumes to cac.comunicaciones@roche.com.
