Information
Price
of Teak
Costa Rica
Tree Registration/Land Lease
Risk Factors
Price of Teak
The ITTO, or International Tropical Timber Organization publish
average import/export prices in a fortnightly report called the
Market Information Service. the reports include a table titled
“US Imported sawn wood prices”.
These can be confirmed by going to http://www.itto.or.jp and clicking on Market Information
Service - you will need to register for this service - then click
on download report...
Costa
Rica
Costa Rica has a long history of encouraging foreign investors
by introducing strict laws to protect foreign leaseholders and
shareholders. The government actively seeks to encourage investments
in sustainable plantations such as Teak. The Costa Rican government,
its ministries and financial institutions maintain a decidedly
pro-US. and continental stance in regard to financial security
and tax laws. The stated aim is to entice primarily high-tech
corporations to take advantage of Central America’s educated,
computer literate and disciplined workforce, along with the modern
production infrastructure the country is currently creating. This
investment-friendly climate and the government policy of making
Costa Rica “the Silicon Valley of Latin America” has
enticed commercial leaders such as Acer, Microsoft. GE, Abbot
Laboratories, Continental Airways and Intel Corporation to make
sizable investments here, both financially and physically, with
major production
and distribution facilities. The World Bank has given Costa Rica
an excellent bill of overall political and economic health. At
a recent annual conference in El Salvador, the Bank lauded he
country as possessing “one of the most stable and robust”
democracies in Latin America. It went on to praise the Costa Rica’s
“healthy economic growth rate” and “ some of
the best social indicators” on the continent. Costa Rica
is one of the most vocal supporters of continental free trade,
and already has its own trade agreement with America, Mexico and
other countries of the region. Costa Rica is building a competitive
advantage for itself and the many high tech companies who have
chosen or are pondering there option to operate here. It is a
country at a turning point in integrating itself into the modern
world economy. Those doing business here will have the inside
track. Investment costs in Costa Rica are set to rise dramatically
over the next few years as the change in status from Developing
world to first world is
implemented. Costa Rica remains one of the safest and most attractive
countries for foreign investment in Latin ,America.
This can be verified at http://www.businesscostarica.com
Tree Registration/Land
Lease
Your investment is safe and you are protected in a number of ways
by the laws of Costa Rica as mentioned above. First and foremost
you are assigned a lease of up to 25 years on the land your trees are planted
on. This lease is yours and yours alone. No one else has the right
to sell, re-let or use the land for any purpose other than that
which you and you alone expressly give written consent for. Secondly,
under Costa Rican law any crops on land are considered a separate
legal asset to the land. All of your trees are registered to you
or your beneficiary, therefore you have legal title to each and
every tree on your land. You and you only have the legal right
of instruction for disbursement, displacement, planting, harvesting
etc.
Risk
Factors
Hurricanes - Hurricanes have occasionally hit the Caribbean side
of Costa Rica; however an 11,000 ft mountain range that runs north
to south through the centre of the country shelters the Pacific
side where the tree farms are located. No Hurricane has ever hit
the areas of our plantations in the last 100 or so years that
records have been kept. There are tens of thousands of acres being
held by institutional investors, pension funds etc. These companies
spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on comprehensive due diligence
before making an investment. They do not risk money on the whims
of the environment
Diseases - There are no known problems with pests or disease within
Teak , however, be reassured that if you use a management company that we have recommended your trees will be constantly monitored
and any appropriate action would be taken quickly. In the unlikely
event of a problem, your management company is likely to agree to replant any trees that are damaged free of charge at least in the first three or four years.
From the 4th year on Teak is resistant to all known infestations.
The same rules apply with institutional money as above.
Forest Fires - Forest fires are not normally a problem in the
humid tropics due to the moisture content in the air. Teak is
very resistant to fire. Trees which are over 4-6 meters high are
not normally damaged by moderate forest fires.
Appropriate measures have to be taken by all the management companies to prevent forest fire; weeds and
vegetation on ground level are to be removed before the dry season,
firebreaks are built between fields and 24 hour surveillance is
to be provided by resident foresters.
