The Tico Times Online Daily Page

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, August 25, 2003

KNOCKED OUT: Costa Rica's Ariel Rodriguez (L) battles Colombia's Pablo Armero for the ball in Saturday's Under 17 World Cup quarterfinals in Finland. Colombia won the game 2-0 and sent Costa Rica packing.
AFP/TT

August 25

Seminar on Nutrition
Librería bookstore in Multiplaza, Escazú invites everyone to a nutrition seminar at 5:30 p.m. Info: 800-542-7374.

Discussion on the book Cocorí
Distinguished Costa Ricans will be discussing this controversial book today through Wednesday, Aug. 27, at 5 p.m., in Limón Public Library. Info: 233-1471.

Techno-Electronic Event
DJ Maxi Ruiz from Barcelona, Spain, Costa Rican DJ Tekes and Ensamble Étnico are performing at 9:30 p.m. with a preamble with Bernal Monestel with his music of the world collection. Tonight at Jazz Café, San Pedro. Info: 253-8933.

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Pineapple Exports to Surpass Coffee

Due to continued slumping international coffee prices and increased demand for pineapples, Costa Rican pineapple exports this year will surpass coffee - the country's traditional number two agricultural export - according to the Agricultural Ministry.

With 15,000 hectares of land used for pineapple production, Costa Rica is the world's leading pineapple exporter, according to the Ministry. This year's pineapple exports are expected to net $210 million, while coffee exports are expected at $180 million, the daily La Nación reported.

In 2002, coffee exports earned $165.3 million, while pineapple exports grossed $159.1 million. This year, however, pineapples will surpass coffee to become the number two agro export behind bananas and number six export overall.

According to Alexis Quesada, director of the Agriculture Ministry's National Pineapple Program, pineapples are no longer a "non-traditional export." Costa Rica's pineapple industry is made up of 25 large companies and more than 1,000 small producers, she said.

"Ninety percent of the pineapples consumed in the United States are grown in Costa Rica," Quesada said, adding the Costa Rica exports to the U.S. 1,000 tons of the fruit each month.

Costa Rica also exports pineapples to Canada, Germany, Holland, France, Italy and England.

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INCAE Named
'Best Business School in Latin America'

AmericaEconomia, a biweekly Latin American business magazine, has named Costa Rica's Harvard-affiliated business school INCAE as the "Best Business School In Latin America," beating out Mexico's Tec de Monterrey, which has topped the ranking for the last five years.

INCAE had been ranked second for the last five years, but took this year's top honors because of the research capacity of the school's faculty and their ability to create knowledge, according to an AmericaEconomia press release.

According to the magazine's editors, INCAE has demonstrated the greatest consistency in this area, but still has a way to go in order to compete on the same level as the top global business schools in the U.S. and Europe.

"If Latin American business schools want to sit at the same table with the world's best MBA schools some day, they will have to increase their faculties' productivity," says Felipe Abarca, Director of AmericaEconomia Intelligence, the magazine's research division.

Tec de Monterrey finished second on this year's ranking, followed by the Chile's Pontificia Universidad Catolica and Universidad Adolfo Ibanez, which tied for third place. The Fundacao Getulio Vargas of Sao Paulo and Mexico's ITAM rounded out the top five.

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Organic Farmers Meet in Costa Rica

Organic farmers and technicians from Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean are meeting in Costa Rica today for the first regional summit of organic producers.

The meeting, held today and tomorrow in Atenas, 30 kilometers west of San José, will focus on advances made in organic farming and problems with production, processing and marketing organic crops, according to a Costa Rica's Agriculture Ministry.

-AFP

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