The Costa Rica Country Brand welcomes its new members

• Inter-institutional Committee joined by the Ministry of Culture and welcomes the new Chancellor

essential COSTA RICA continues to work hard to position the country in international markets, and as part of this work, it included the Minister of Culture and Youth, Sylvie Durán, as a member of the Inter-Institutional Committee with the objective of strengthening the cultural component in the Country Brand.

This Committee is comprised of the Minister of Foreign Trade, Dyalá Jiménez, the Minister of Tourism, María Amalia Revelo, the Chancellor of the Republic, Manuel Ventura, who joined recently; the General Manager of the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promoter (PROCOMER), Pedro Beirute and the General Director of the Costa Rican Coalition for Development Initiatives (CINDE), Jorge Sequeira.

During yesterday’s session, the members of the Country Brand Committee welcomed both Minister Durán and Chancellor Ventura. They also reaffirmed their commitment and support to the actions developed through their institutions so that Costa Rica continues to position itself as a privileged place among international audiences.

“The essential COSTA RICA brand is a country project that has become more solid and mature. The different institutions that support the Brand have been working together further disseminate and position it incorporation of the Minister of Culture and the new Chancellor will bring strength and continuity to this process that began almost six years ago,” said Country Brand Director, Daniel Valverde.

“The incorporation of the Ministry of Culture responds to a strategy in which the elements of Costa Rican culture and idiosyncrasy act transversely across the three sectors promoted by the Brand: tourism, exports and foreign direct investment.   Similarly, to date, the Country Brand has supported several cultural initiatives, including the National Arts, International Arts, International Design and International Film Festivals, as well as a number of art exhibitions displayed at different museums.”

essential COSTA RICA works under two criteria:The Country Brand was launched in September 2013 as a key communication tool to position the country and it is how Costa Rica is projected to the world through the comprehensive promotion of tourism, investments and exports, hand in hand with Costa Rican culture and idiosyncrasy.

>      Country positioning: presenting the characteristics that describe Costa Ricans: “Pura vida”, charismatic, “hard working”, specialized and talented.

>      Country competitiveness: fulfilling the promise made to the world, by ensuring that companies under the Country Brand seal represents the values of Excellence, Sustainability, Innovation, Social Progress and Costa Rican Identity.

To date, 444 micro, small, medium and large companies in the export and tourism sector are part of the essential COSTA RICA group.

In 2017, international consulting firms Bloom Consulting and Place Matters, experts in assessing country positioning in foreign markets, evaluated the brand’s performance. Studies show that the good perception of the country brand positions it over competitors in the region, such as: Colombia, Mexico, Dominican Republic and Panama.   essential COSTA RICA has collaborated, over the last three years, to the identification in the areas of investment and commerce and continues to strengthen its legacy as a natural destination.

Furthermore, the value of the Brand increased twelve places for tourism and five for trade and investment, in the world classification of the Country Brand Ranking 2017-2018, coming in nine on the continent, as the brand with the most growth in all of America.

For more information contact: Ofelia Fernández Valverde – ofernandez@procomer.com