Caribbean & Central America - October 2009 (ISSN 1741-4458)

A study based on data taken from the World Bank's World Development Indicators 2009, found that Costa Rica was the world's fourth most important exporter of high technology products. The World Bank estimates that 45% of Costa Rica's exports are high-tech. Only The Philippines (54%), Malaysia (52%) and Singapore (46%) had a higher proportion of high-technology products in their export mix. The main such exports are integrated circuits and medical equipment (such as intravenous-drip sets, implants and orthopaedic products). One common thread shared by all four countries is that Intel, a microchip manufacturer, has factories in each. The Promociones de la Coalición Costarricense de Iniciativas de Desarrollo (Cinde), which produced the report found that  of Costa Rica's US$6.22bn in manufactured exports US$2.78bn were high technology products. Cinde points out that 67% of the country's high tech exports are produced in free zones.