As of 2023, American TNC, Johnson & Johnson MedTech, announced the plans to establish a new 205,000 square foot biomedical manufacturing facility in the Grecia Green Park Free Trade Zone. This FTZ is operated by The Central American Group. This location outside the Greater Metropolitan Area will bring more jobs and foreign direct investment to rural areas of the Central Valley, providing an estimate of 3,000 jobs according to Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chavez.1 Bringing development to rural areas will help enhance infrastructure while leveraging lower labor costs than in the Metro Area.
Rendering of Planned J&J Manufacturing Facility
Along with lower labor costs, less taxation, and the presence of more available land, developing in this rural area will open the door to potential tax breaks from the Costa Rican government. It also offers the opportunity to build positive public relations, expand its influence on more local communities, and diversify the supply chain to build a more resilient workforce.2 Because the development will occur in a new Greenpark Free Zone, the company will be upheld to certain sustainability standards, such as building LEED Certified buildings with reduced carbon footprints, thus benefiting the environment3.
J&J MedTech is the biomedical engineering branch of J&J, which is headquartered in New Brunswick, NJ. They are one of the world’s largest corporations, with many subsidiaries including Band-aid and Janssen, working towards “healthcare solutions today to deliver the breakthroughs of tomorrow, and profoundly impact health for humanity”4.
J&J is strategically investing in Costa Rican facilities, following the growing medical device sector in the country. The medical device sector is the leading export in the country, with 17% annual growth from 2014 to 20225. They are capitalizing on an already existing workforce with skills in medical device manufacturing. This human talent is in part a testament to the value of education in Costa Rica and prior investments from companies like Boston Scientific and Hewlett Packard Enterprises6.
The model of foreign investment seems like a neoliberal approach to development because the parent company is exerting its capitalist influence by leveraging a foreign workforce and the FTZs to maximize their profit. The TNCs benefit from collecting the surplus profits while also buoying a foreign economy by employing a new workforce. The benefits then trickle down because infrastructure development will ensue in order for TNCs to conduct their business.
https://www.radiohrn.hn/costa-rica-johnson-johnson-medtech-instalara-planta-manufactura-2023-09-26
- https://www.thecentralamericangroup.com/manufacturing-plant-in-costa-rica-johnson-and-johnson/ ↩︎
- https://www.thecentralamericangroup.com/manufacturing-plant-in-costa-rica-johnson-and-johnson/ ↩︎
- https://www.thegreenparkfz.com/#master ↩︎
- https://www.jnj.com/our-societal-impact ↩︎
- https://www.thecentralamericangroup.com/manufacturing-plant-in-costa-rica-johnson-and-johnson/ ↩︎
- https://siteselection.com/issues/2018/nov/costa-rica-a-natural-hub-to-reach-the-americas-and-the-world.cfm ↩︎