VP Naidu holds positive bilateral trade, investment talks on his visit to Costa Rica

San Jose: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has met President of Costa Rica Carlos Alvarado Quesada and held "fruitful" discussions on a range of issues, including cross border terrorism, and new areas of collaboration that hold potential to boost the bilateral ties.

Vice President Naidu, who became the first Indian on Friday to receive an honorary doctorate by the University of Peace founded by the United Nations, also invited the Costa Rican companies to invest in India and benefit from high returns.

"President of Costa Rica Carlos Quesada and I have had fruitful and cordial exchanges covering a range of areas of mutual interest. Based on our fruitful exchanges, we are confident that our mutual efforts will open up new and innovative vistas for deepening ongoing engagement between both countries," Naidu said.

"India is a peace loving country but has been a target of terrorism from across our border for the last few decades. We discussed in detail the menace of terrorism and the need to fight in one voice against individuals & terrorist groups engaged in terrorist activities," the Vice President's office said in a tweet.

Naidu, who met president Quesada at the Casa Presidenical in San Jose on Friday, said there were many new areas of cooperation for the two countries to take their bilateral relations to new heights.

He said the Costa Rican strengths that India would want to take advantage of include eco tourism, clean transport, education and to have zero carbon emission economy by 2021.

"Indian strengths that Costa Rica can benefit from include space and biotechnology, Renewable Energy including solar, pharmaceuticals, ICT particularly eGovernance, hydroelectric generators and power plant equipment, farm machinery & skill upgradation, railway construction," Naidu said.

"Costa Rica is the largest economy in Central America. Costa Rican companies are invited to invest in and benefit from the fastest growing large economy. Current bilateral trade volumes between both countries are to the tune of USD 200 million," he said.

Terming Costa Rica as an "important partner" of India, Naidu said the two countries shared "close and cordial" ties based on their shared commitment to the pursuit of democracy, pluralism, multiculturalism, freedom of Press and equitable human rights.

The two countries also exchanged memorandum of understanding on waiving visa requirements for diplomatic and official passport holders and the signing of the Letter of Intent to collaborate in the field of Biotechnology.

"India & Costa Rica could collaborate in various aspects of skill development such as Soft Skills, Entrepreneurship, Financial and Digital Literacy. 50 per cent of Costa Rican population is less than 25 years. We could share our experiences in skilling, training and capacity building," Naidu said.

Naidu is in Costa Rica as part of his two-nation trip to Paraguay and the Central American country.