KNOWLEDGE...CONNECTIONS...MARKET VISITS...SUCCESS!
A TRADE ACCELERATOR PROGRAMME FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN SERVICES
A TRADE ACCELERATOR PROGRAMME FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN SERVICES
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The GATEWAY to Trade Costa Rica programme was developed in the context of the Canada-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement, which is presently being renegotiated to include a trade in services component. The objective of the programme was to increase economic development and foster the growth of Costa Rican SME service providers.
Priority sectors, those in which Costa Rica shares a particular competitive advantage to build upon, were the focus of the programme. The ICT sector was identified as the key sector of focus. The dental and medical tourism, as well as the educational tourism sectors were also identified as priority sectors and were provided with support. A multi-faceted, strategic approach was adopted in order to achieve the programme's objectives, focused on capacity building and export promotion initiatives. Training and coaching served as the base for building export-readiness and for subsequently engaging, with success in the export promotion activities, including inbound and outbound market visits to/from Canada. Programme elements included: training, coaching, export plan development support, train-the-trainer programme, sector and company profile development, marketing support, and market visits. The programme resulted in an increased awareness among Canadians regarding Costa Rica as a high-quality option for outsourced IT services. I am very impressed with the companies we met with from a cultural perspective. I feel they would compliment Canadian organizations very well from a work style perspective. I witnessed many best in class practices from a company culture and employee recruitment, onboarding perspective. They all seem to be well versed on Canadian requirements for IT talent and are working diligently to hire the right talent to enable them to service Canadian companies well.
~ Canadian Trade Mission Participant |
Amazing country, passionate people and a depth of talent that is very impressive. My plan was to meet, listen and evaluate but it became clear very quickly, that certain companies were ready for business now!
I was comfortable enough to start discussing projects in the pipeline and demo’d some very unique technologies that have the potential to be commercialized in NA. Great job the whole PROCOMER team. Thank you for having me. I love Costa Rica! ~ Canadian Trade Mission Participant It was an eye-opening experience to understand the progression in Costa Rica and the available services. It was an educational and rewarding experience and we are very interested in doing work with our favoured companies. ~ Canadian Trade Mission Participant |
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This project is possible thanks to the financial support of the Government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada and administered by TFO Canada.
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