San José Skyline. Photo by Wikimaniac-CR
In the first ever FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) ranking of cities across North and South America, San Jose, Costa Rica proudly ranks 5th in Latin America. The results were published in the April/May 2011 issue of fDiIntelligence which is a publication belonging to the Financial Times group. This is a British publication.
According to the press release from the Magazine, the “American Cities of the Future” used both data and expert advice “to rank cities which have the best prospects for inward investment, economic development and business expansion.”
In Latin America, Santiago Chile ranked 1st, followed by Lima Peru, Monterrey, Mexico and Bogata Columbia then San Jose, Costa Rica.
San Jose is the capital of Costa Rica and is located in the Central Valley. The population of the city fro the 2006 census showed a population in the city of 365,799 and a metropolitan area population of 1, 715,485, San Jose lies at a mean elevation of 1,161 m above sea level, and offers an average temperature of 25oC (77oF).
In North America New York City topped the list followed by Chicago, Illinois, Houston, Texas, Toronto, Ontario, and Atlanta Georgia.
The judges evaluated 405 cities across North and South America. Six categories of information were considered, Economic Potential, Human Resources, Costa Effectiveness, Quality of Life, Infrastructure and Business Friendliness. In these top six categories fDi did their own research. In a seventh category FDI strategy, 100 cities submitted information.
Additionally the ranking looked at Micro Cities for Cost Effectiveness. In that listing, the top three places in Latin America went to cities in Costa Rica. These included: Alajuela, Heredia, and Santa Ana. In looking at Micro Cities for Economic Potential across both North America and Latin America, Costa Rica was the only country in Latin America to be listed and had two cities, Heredia placed 5th and Santa Ana placed 8th. A micro city is defined as having a population less than 100,000. All three of these cities are located in the Central Valley near San Jose.
A view of San Jose
Having traveled throughout the world, Lynn Farris now lives in Costa Rica, teaches English in a one room school house and writes a column for the “National Examiner” on Costa Rica.( http://www.examiner.com/costa-rica-in-national/lynn-farris)
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