My North American friends often ask me: “What can I do in Central America?” in terms of business creation. I tell them that Central America is a group of underdeveloped countries, so everything needs development, there are opportunities everywhere for entrepreneur at all levels especially in Costa Rica.
With a population of more than 589,018,000 inhabitants, Latin America as a whole is considered the world’s largest emerging economy, and as more countries open up to trade deals, the exploding middle class is demanding and demanding more and better everything.
Central America has 41 million inhabitants and seven countries: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. These countries are quite unique and diverse, but Costa Rica and Panama are by far the most developed and stable.
Common problems facing Central American countries are inequality, poverty and corruption. Additionally, the percentage of higher education students is low, limiting talent, entrepreneurship and innovation.
Additionally, education is geared toward satisfying corporate jobs, further exacerbating the problem of slow innovation and entrepreneurship. Culture of poverty, past and current generations in Central American countries are extremely conservative and do not take risks, opting instead for the stability of paid employment.
International trade agreements create jobs in the telecommunications, industrial and manufacturing sectors, as well as in hard and soft technologies. These companies offer salary above average for these jobsThere is therefore no shortage of new jobs for locals, nor young employees to fill them.
But there are plenty of opportunities in Central America for the forward-thinking risk-taking entrepreneur.
With these free trade agreements, entire industrial parks are being set up throughout the region. And with this service and product support, businesses will need to keep up as well.
The vast potential of available opportunities continually attracts new start-ups in areas such as e-commerce and services for the rapidly growing middle class.
Although obstacles such as financing and legal procedures remain, the region has seen exponential growth in many areas and most industry leaders expect continued growth over the coming decade.
Internet use expected to grow by around 50% over the next five years in the region, and access to international credit cards and online transactions is expected to skyrocket. It is therefore necessary to have platforms to cater to this emerging and growing market.
Entrepreneurs have the opportunity to innovate in the supply chain as well as in products, human resource management and business outsourcing in general, access to new technologies, manufacturing, software development and marketing services.
Real estate investors see positive growth in opportunities over the next decade across real estate sectors; agricultural, commercial residential, flagship condo projects, etc. As access routes open up in previously inaccessible areas, developers and investors quickly follow.
Although there are opportunities throughout Central America, the most important point to consider for entrepreneurs looking to enter the market is the stability of the country. Changes in government often mean sweeping changes in policies regarding restrictions on foreign ownership, trade, development and investment.
THE Doing Business Project provides objective measures of business regulations and enforcement in 185 selected economies and cities at subnational and regional levels.
The table below lists the overall “ease of doing business” ranking (out of 185 economies) and shows how the ranking changed between 2012 and 2013.
Costa Rica
THE IFC And world Bank The ranking above shows that Costa Rica is clearly ahead of other Central American countries.
Recent changes in the global economy and the development of Costa Rica’s communications and information infrastructure have made it easier to integrate business opportunities and have required employers to look for new and better ways to develop and manage their business opportunities. .
As Costa Rica’s government and universities continue to invest in entrepreneurial education and focus on local policies and programs that promote the growth of micro-opportunities such as small and medium-sized businesses and enterprises, Foreign entrepreneurs find numerous opportunities in everything from opening product and service franchises to small family businesses.
Overall, Central America offers and will continue to offer significant opportunities for entrepreneurs and innovators. The growing middle class, opening business opportunities and access to information are creating an entrepreneurial boom in Central America.
Article by TCRN.com
