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Central Pacific Women's Group Meeting
With potluck lunch, Aug. 19, 9-11 a.m., Balcón del Mar, Jacó, centralpacificwomensgroup@yahoo.com.

Theater at Noon in Alajuela
Dúo Takay, trova, Aug. 19, 6 p.m., Sala Gómez Miralles, Centro de Cine, Av. 9, Ca. 11, behind INS, 2290-9091, ext. 102.

Music at Dusk
Alma Quartet, Aug. 19 at 5:10 p.m., National Theater, Av. 2, Ca. 3/5. Info: 2221-5341.

Concerts in Monteverde
Zumba, Aug. 19, 8 p.m., Bromelias Music Garden, Monteverde. Info: 2645-6272.

Arnoldo Castillo in Concert
Ballads, Aug. 19-20, 8 p.m., Melico Salazar Theater, Av. 2, Ca. Ctrl./2. Info: 2257-6005 www.todoticketcr.com.

20th Credomatic Music Festival
Vienna Boys' Choir (Austria) and Youth Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica, Aug. 19, 8 p.m., National Theater.

Jeong Ga Ak Hoe (Korea), traditional Korean music, Aug. 19, 7 p.m., EARTH University, Guácimo, Limón.

Katharina Hanstedt, harp, and Klaus Schoepp, flute (Germany), with Irene Monterroso (C.R.), viola, Aug. 19, 7:30 p.m. Alta Hotel, Alto de las Palomas, old road to Santa Ana.

Frustrated with the length of time the current Traffic Law has sat in the Legislative Assembly awaiting reform, a number of influential organizations have joined together to present their own draft reform to the Public Works and Transport Ministry.

Calling the reform “urgent,” the group – which unites the Costa Rican Association of Engineers and Architects, the Ombudswoman's Office, the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute and the Association of Athletes Against Road Violence and Disrespect – claims its proposal can bring safety to the country's roads and highways.

The proposal touches on four key points, including the design of roads and bike paths, education and prevention, and a points system and penalties consistent with serious violations such as speeding and drunken driving.

According to a statement released on Wednesday, the group consulted international laws and regulations in the process of drafting the proposal.

“(This) initiative recognizes that drivers, passengers, pedestrians, cyclists and other road users are all responsible for safety on the roads, making it necessary that the Traffic Law be holistic,” read the statement. “The working proposal is intended to provide those responsible for implementing (traffic) policies … with a clear, modern and applicable law to ensure safety.”

The current version of the Traffic Law in the assembly is in a legislative committee, waiting to be addressed by the new Congress. Due to the failure of the former assembly to come to an agreement regarding penalties, a version of the law that contains fines widely viewed as unreasonably high went into effect in March. 

To see the fines in the current Traffic Law, visit theticotimes.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/a-list-of-the-new-fines.pdf

The Sunnyvale, California-based Motif is one of a growing cadre of foreign companies setting up shop in Costa Rica. Now with 185 employees, up from an initial 100 in late January, the company projects growing to 500 employees by 2012, said Andrea Centeno, communications director at the Costa Rican Investment Board (CINDE).

This week marked the inauguration of Motif's renovated 2,200-square-meter building in the America Free Zone in Heredia, north of San José. It joins Hewlett-Packard, StarTek and others at the facility near the Real Cariari shopping mall. Described on its website as “a business process outsourcing company serving Fortune 500 clients,” Motif's Costa Rica office will provide telephone and e-mail services in both English and Spanish to clients of a prominent U.S. travel agency.

Costa Rica has benefited from its position as what Centeno calls an “efficient, or cost-effective, destination for foreign direct investment primarily in the areas of services (call center-type operations), advanced manufacturing (including microprocessors, automotive parts and aeronautics, among others), and medical device manufacturing.” While these three areas are all “very dynamic sectors of the economy,” Centeno described the service sector's 2,800 percent increase in jobs over the past nine years as “wild.”

Costa Rica excels at providing attractively priced, highly trained workers, a growing number of whom have enough mastery of English to provide customer services to U.S.-based businesses via phone and e-mail. While countries like Chile attract natural resource-oriented investment due to their mineral riches, and others attract foreign investment for access to their markets, Costa Rica's competitive edge lies in its human capital, said Centeno.

Snapshot of the Most Dynamic Foreign Direct Investment Sectors 2000 and 2009

Source: Costa Rican Investment Board (CINDE)

San José's city government announced Wednesday that it will begin to install 2,000 trash cans around the capital city on Friday.

The trash cans were bought as part of an agreement between the municipality and the Banco de Costa Rica.

Friday morning, officials from City Hall and Banco de Costa Rica will install the first trash bin in Parque María Auxiliadora in Zapote, a southeastern district of San José.

All of San José's 11 districts will receive new waste containers. The bins will be placed mostly near parks and bus stops.

“There is no excuse for the amount of trash around bus stops and parks and on streets and sidewalks,” City Hall stated in a press release Wednesday.

The city hopes the new receptacles will help “contribute to the beautification and cleanliness of the city.”