New Delhi, July 8 (IANS). India and Costa Rica have agreed to strengthen business-to-business relations, promote institutional cooperation, and promote regular interactions between line ministries, regulatory authorities and industry.
Reiterating their commitment to further strengthen their bilateral economic relations, both countries agreed to use the ‘India-Costa Rica Joint Economic and Trade Committee’ (JETCO) as a key platform to advance trade, investment and cooperation in various sectors.
According to an official statement, the first meeting of JETCO was held virtually. The meeting was co-chaired by Vimal Anand, Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce, and Adriana Castro, Director General of Foreign Trade of the Republic of Costa Rica.
The Commerce and Industry Ministry statement said the two sides reviewed bilateral trade and investment relations and exchanged views on their respective trade and investment regulations.
He expressed satisfaction over the continuous increase in goods trade between the two countries to reach approximately $391 million in 2025-26. During this, he also discussed opportunities to further expand trade and investment.
Both sides exchanged information on their respective standards, accreditation, certification and regulatory frameworks. Also considered were the possibilities of cooperation in areas such as standards development, conformity assessment, food safety, pharmaceutical regulation and export certification to ease trade and reduce technical barriers.
JETCO, formed under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Economic Cooperation between India and Costa Rica, serves as the main institutional mechanism to review trade and investment relations between the two countries, address issues of mutual interest and explore new avenues of economic cooperation.
–IANS
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