• CINDE, Costa Rica's Investment Promotion Agency, reported 81 investment projects from 11 different countries during the pandemic.
• Multinationals in the country generated 19.806 new jobs, an 18% increase from the previous year.
• Costa Rica consolidates its position as a strategic ally for Nearshoring: Intel & Microvention are two recent examples of this stance.

San José, Costa Rica. December 15, 2020. CINDE – The Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency- reported a record of 81 confirmed projects during 2020, 26 of which are new companies that selected Costa Rica for their Operations. Other 55 investment projects diversified current operations in the country with new processes or business lines as well as expansions.

Of the 26 new entries, 14 of them came from non-traditional origins representing 11 different countries such as Japan, Denmark, France, Germany, India, UK, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Among these is German-based ADMEDES, one of the world's leading contract manufacturers of auto-expandable nitinol (nickel and titanium) components used in the medical devices industries. The company selected Cartago, Costa Rica as their third geographic operation, which will add to its two centers in Germany and another in the USA.

Intel is another example with an investment of US$350 million in Costa Rica to revamp testing and assembly operations, which adds to its other three divisions in the country, including its Mega Lab, The Research and Development (R&D) Center, and its Global Services Center, all adding 2,000 people.

Eric Scharf, Chairman of the Board of Directors at CINDE, highlighted that these results, amid the pandemic, are a clear signal of Costa Rica's response and resilience and an excellent coordinated effort between the government, companies, and their employees to ensure business continuity.

“Within days, 98% of services companies in the country with over 70.000 people were 100% working from home. Manufacturing companies identified all critical on-site jobs which continued to operate under the strictest sanitary protocols, prioritizing the wellbeing of the people. Assurance of this business continuity with a clear rule of law and openness to trade demonstrated multinationals' trust in Costa Rica as their strategic partner for the new nearshoring," added Mr. Scharf.

On that line, Jorge Sequeira, CINDE's Managing Director added, “Over the years, Costa Rica has been the nearshoring site per excellence. This year, the pandemic reaffirmed Costa Rica's position. We had several expansion projects in manufacturing, driven by a supply optimization strategy. The results we had in 2020 reflect a high level of trust by multinationals in our country, where we were able to demonstrate strong response, resilience, and reinvention of businesses but more so, demonstrate our people's capacity."

November 25, 2020. Evonik Costa Rica, a German transnational in specialty chemicals, will expand its services at its Shared Services Center in Costa Rica by incorporating Technical Support services for the Americas. This diversification in its operations will involve the creation of new positions in the technology area.

The company is recruiting professionals in technical support engineering and IT Support Systems management. Both profiles must be bilingual or trilingual (English, Spanish and Portuguese).

“Since 2016, when Evonik first opened its shared finance service center in Costa Rica, it had the vision to grow and diversify its operations in the country. Thanks to the capabilities that Costa Rica offers for business diversification and the generation of greater added value for the company, today we are opening 16 new positions and hope to continue growing and generating more job opportunities in the coming months”, assured Gabriela Ortiz, General Manager of Evonik Costa Rica.

In addition to these new positions, Evonik is constantly searching for financial profiles for the services it provides in this area.

Duayner Salas, Vice Minister of Foreign Trade commented, “Since 2016, Evonik has grown steadily in Costa Rica evidencing the strong commitment and trust that multinational companies have in our country. Our location provides quality human talent and the necessary conditions for service and high technology companies to continue choosing us as their home. I celebrate Evonik’s new expansion that will translate into new jobs.”

Those interested in working for Evonik must have a full university degree in related careers or matching experience as well as verifiable work experience and level of the aforementioned languages (Spanish and English and / or Portuguese).
The curriculum must be sent through the Talent Finder platform at the following link: http://talentfinder-latam.com/P/L?c=1228

Jorge Sequeira Picado, Managing Director of CINDE, commented: “The Costa Rican services sector, to which Evonik belongs, continues to demonstrate its dynamism, even in the midst of the pandemic. This sector offers more than 100 service processes in 10 different languages responding to new market trends. Evonik diversified its service portfolio towards information technologies to provide support in the Americas. This will imply the hiring of more staff and the generation of more formal jobs in a sector that at the end of 2019 boasted more than 72,000 positions.”

Ortiz adds that the growth and consolidation of operations is validated by a solid cluster of established companies that provide high-level services, highly qualified talent, as well as a political stability that provides for business continuity and the possibility of continuing to see Costa Rich as an investment destination.

The selection and recruitment process are active and will run until February 2021.

About the company
Evonik is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. The company operates in over 100 countries around the world and generated sales of € 13.1 billion and an operating profit (adjusted EDITBA margin) of €2.15 billion in 2019. Evonik goes far beyond chemistry to create innovative, profitable and sustainable solutions for its customers. More than 32,000 employees work together with a common goal: to improve people's lives, every day.

Legal note
Regarding the forecasts or estimates contained in this press release or forward-looking reports, all of these documents may contain known or unknown risks and inaccuracies. Actual results or consequences may vary, depending on changes in the operating environment. Neither Evonik Industries AG nor its group companies have an obligation to update the forecasts, estimates and reports contained in this release.

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