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Q COSTARICA — Pfizer, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical firms, announced it will relocate a portion of its Costa Rican operations to Colombia, focusing on its Corporate Center for Central America and the Caribbean. The Global Business Services Center and sales teams will remain in Costa Rica. The U.S. firm indicated that this move is part of a “strategic transformation of our operations in Latin America.” “This will allow us to improve our ability to offer innovative healthcare solutions and focus on areas where we can generate greater benefits for Latin American patients,” the company stated. Pfizer’s New Structures in the Region In light of this move, Pfizer will create two new cluster structures: North Latin America (including Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and the countries of Central America and the Caribbean), headquartered in Colombia. The other will be South Latin America (covering Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru, and Bolivia), based in Buenos Aires. These new clusters will take effect on December 1, 2025. “While this change is a proactive response to an evolving business environment, our commitment to both Central America and the Caribbean, as well as to Costa Rica, remains unchanged,” the company stated. Pfizer’s History in Costa Rica and Current Global Situation Pfizer began operations in Costa Rica in 1950 and established its Corporate Center for Central America and the Caribbean headquarters here in 2008. From this location, it still oversees operations in 33 territories. In 2013, it created its Global Business Services (GBS) division in Costa Rica, which offers support in finance, human resources, digital technologies, logistics planning, pharmacovigilance, and more. The recently opened operations center, inaugurated in 2022 in Escazú Village, is the first in Latin America designed with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. This facility houses professionals from diverse areas who support Pfizer’s global operations. Since reaching their peak during the pandemic, Pfizer’s stock has lost more than half its value. This reflects the drop in revenue from its COVID-19-related products and the upcoming expiration of patents for key medications. In response, the company launched an ambitious cost-cutting program. Pfizer projects achieving net savings of US$7.2 billion by the end of 2027, of which US$4.5 billion would be achieved before 2025. Other departures from Costa Rica Two other companies, Intel and Qorvo, both dedicated to the semiconductor sector, announced some time ago that they were withdrawing their operations from Costa Rica, either partially or completely. Intel, in a statement issued by the company in July, indicated that it would gradually close its Assembly and Testing (ATM) plant located in Belén, Heredia. These operations will be transferred to Malaysia and Vietnam over the next few months. Intel reported that this decision follows a thorough review of the business. It also stated that the changes aim to drive greater efficiency and utilization of its global manufacturing network. In the case of Qorvo, after 29 years of operating in Costa Rica, it ended its operations in the country, as confirmed by the Foreign Trade Promoter (Procomer). “The decision to cease Qorvo’s operations in Costa Rica was made at the beginning of this year and was part of a global corporate strategy focused on closer ties with its main markets and suppliers in Asia,” Procomer said at the time.
