San Jose, Costa Rica. July 8, 2024. The world’s biggest semiconductor fair,
SEMICON West 2024, will take place on July 9-11 in San Francisco, California, and
CINDE, BAC, and InnovaPark will be participating together to actively promote
Costa Rica as an ideal destination for the semiconductor industry and attract new multinationals to our country.
The event will take place in San Francisco’s Moscone Center, where more than 600 participating firms in the semiconductor industry are expected to come together.
“Costa Rica was selected as a strategic U.S. Chips Act partner, and in our role as guides for attracting and promoting foreign investment in Costa Rica we are helping to position the country as a key player in the advanced manufacturing sector, promoting greater value-added industry processes such as microchip design, assembly, packaging, and testing,” affirmed Marianela Urgellés, CINDE’s managing director.
This is Costa Rica’s first time at SEMICON West, for which
CINDE has joined
SEMI, the leading global microelectronics association for driving business and addressing the industry’s global challenges. Among the smart initiatives under discussion are coordination of the industry’s sectors, innovation, all the standards for creating semiconductors with disruptive technology, and the creation of emerging and autonomous applications.
Guidance and reinforcement for the local ecosystem
Accompanied by
BAC, Costa Rica’s largest private bank, and
InnovaPark, a mixed free trade zone where manufacturing and logistics companies converge in world-class facilities with specialized services, CINDE will be exploring the country’s opportunities as a semiconductor value chain investment destination.
The three organizations are participating jointly in this event to reinforce the actions the ecosystem needs to give it a competitive advantage in attracting more companies, in addition to increasing the potential of companies already operating in Costa Rica and helping to create jobs.
Mario Pacheco, InnovaPark’s commercial director, noted that
“Costa Rica has proven success as a high value-added destination for advanced manufacturing. It also already has major players in the semiconductor industry that make the country proposition more attractive. Within this context, at SEMICON West 2024 we will be presenting our park’s offering as a modern site for housing technology companies, with ample space for growth and onsite logistics facilities for more efficient value chains and operations.”Another key ally for promotion of investment in Costa Rica is its banking sector, so CINDE’s participation in this event will have the support of
BAC, the country’s largest private bank and one of the region’s top financial conglomerates.
“Our portfolio includes customers in the semiconductor industry, and this experience helps us understand the dynamics of the business and make a differentiated offer according to the sector’s needs. Together with CINDE, we want to help promote Costa Rica as a productive destination and position ourselves as the companies’ business partner that already has extensive experience in multinational dynamics and the free trade zone regime,” added Laura Moreno, BAC’s vice president of corporate relationships.
While the fair is underway, CINDE will also accompany suppliers and other partners such as Bakertilly, Grupo Vargas, IDS, and Lang & Asociados, a notable union of the multinational sector with key domestic companies in the ecosystem.
Semiconductor development in Costa Rica: a golden opportunity going forwardCosta Rica is one of the best positioned countries for competing with Asian destinations in the supply chain. It also ranks as one of the top ten countries worldwide in terms of efficiency and speed of port operations according to the World Bank’s 2023 Logistics Performance Index. Its logistics performance exceeds the average of medium-high income countries, consolidating its position as a safe, stable destination that ensures business continuity backed by the rule of law.
“Our country has some 20 companies linked to the semiconductor ecosystem and another similar number of companies that indirectly supply or are already part of this ecosystem. We are already visualizing some two to four projects of companies with facilities in Costa Rica that are expanding or diversifying their operations due to increased demand caused by the restructuring of the semiconductor chain. Costa Rica is certainly extremely well positioned and we have a great opportunity ahead of us, but in order to take advantage of it there is work to be done, for example, in the continued specialization of Costa Rican human capital,” added Urgellés.
About CINDECINDE offers expertise and strategic guidance for investment, business development, and promotion of talent initiatives in Costa Rica. Thanks to its more than 43 years of working with multinational firms and serving as a key player in the investment ecosystem, CINDE has developed dozens of talent promotion initiatives as a key element in the Costa Rican business climate.
