The country of Costa Rica is being heard around the world not only as the tiny country that staunchly defends peace and possesses countless natural beauty. Our international flair now offers more than that.

In addition to tourism, we are becoming known in the areas of research, technology and university-level education.
Take tourism, for example. Tourists not only choose to visit Costa Rica to enjoy its immense biodiversity and beautiful beaches. Now a new product has begun to make Costa Rica popular in a new niche: medical tourism
Low cost quality treatment compared to costs in North America or Europe motivate people from those countries to come to Costa Rica for plastic, corrective or bariatric surgery. Many times, they take advantage of their recovery period in the country to visit the country's beautiful tourist attractions. Thus, income enters the country not only through the tourism sector but the private medical sector as well.
Costa Rica is also attractive to tourists due to our high political and social stability, the hospitality of the ticos and the democracy that characterizes us.
These characteristics identify Costa Rica as a country that has many more natural attractions to offer tourists. We are selected as a tourism destination for many reasons given the many options offered.
All of this pushes Costa Rica further into internationalization. In other words, we are now protagonists in the world dynamic and in addition to its tourism; Costa Rica is now renowned in the fields of science, technology and research. At the university level, Costa Rica is attractive to foreigners and offers options at the University for Peace, The Agriculture School for the Humid Tropical. Region (EARTH) and the INCAE, business school among others.
Computers from all over the world use microchips manufactured in Costa Rica at the Intel Plant. In a few years, perhaps a spaceship will travel on an important mission that runs on plasma which is developed at the Ad Astra laboratory in Liberia Guanacaste - yet another example of how Costa Rica is obtaining more global participation.
No wonder that this small country draws investors, professionals, researchers and retirees who want to live here and improve their quality of life. Costa Rica is also well developed in the Real Estate field which demands high-level and capable professionals.

Our country is currently undergoing a technological gap that needs to be filled in order to satisfy current demands. It is imperative for Costa Ricans to avoid adopting a passive attitude. We must contemplate how we have come to play a global role and that our country is full of foreign investment, draws foreigners who have decided to spend the rest of their lives here, foreign students who come here semesters at a time as well as patients who arrive to seek medical treatment. Costa Rica has internationalized itself.
We must participate and take advantage of this international boom that Costa Rica is experiencing. If high level research or manufacturing companies establish themselves here, then the country must be prepared to provide qualified labor and not "import it".
On the other hand, as our coasts fill up with luxury hotels and condominiums, we must remember that progress depends on us. We must take advantage of this relationship and use it as an opportunity to reduce the unemployment rates
However, it is important to adopt a participative attitude in the so-called "internationalization" of Costa Rica. We must oversee this complex process so that it is not turn into a temporary trend. We must continue our standards of sustainable development, of training our human resources, of improving our bureaucratic processes that slow down progress and simplify our legislation which can be deficient.
As we observe this, one can see that everyone, from the government to civil society must be in an advantageous position in this process of "internationalization". Let us begin by accepting that not everything must be spoon fed to us. Let us avoid adopting a non-conformist attitude and instead of acting as individuals, let us act as a collective whole for the benefit of all so that way we may begin to walk along the right path.