The Minister of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica, Manuel Tovar, and the Minister of Economy and Industry of Israel, Nir Barkart, have signed this Wednesday a memorandum of understanding on trade and have agreed to start negotiations to achieve a free trade agreement between the two countries.

The objective of both governments is to start said negotiation in the last quarter of 2023, as reported by the Costa Rican Ministry in a statement. For the country’s government, the Middle East region offers ample space to strengthen its global position in terms of trade and investment.

As Tovar has stated, there are evident and undeniable positive synergies between the two economies, which can be capitalized to promote mutually beneficial results, such as participation in global value chains for advanced manufacturing and highly sophisticated services. “Both countries have a lot to offer each other,” he said.

On the one hand, Israel could contribute to Costa Rica its knowledge in innovative industries such as high technology, cybersecurity, agrotechnology and clean technologies. For its part, the Central American country has an outstanding manufacturing industry and agricultural products.

Commercial opening

This same week, the Minister of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica has also visited the United Arab Emirates (USA), where he has met with his counterpart to announce the launch of negotiations for a trade agreement.

In this way, the small Middle Eastern country would sign its first trade agreement with a Latin American nation, in line with its objective of diversifying its economy.

It is expected that this will be a comprehensive agreement that covers issues of trade in goods and services, investment or health. The rounds of negotiations will begin at the latest in the second half of this year.

Source: dpa

(Reference image source: ComexCR, Europa Press)

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