Visit of Costa Rican Foreign Trade Minister to India 19-23 March 2012.

The Minister of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica, Mrs. Anabel Gonzalez, will be visiting India on March 19-23 to participate as Guest of Honor at INDIASOFT 2012. Minister Gonzalez will also be leading a trade and investment mission of approximately 25 Costa Rican entrepreneurs with the objective of strengthening trade and investment relations between both countries.

• The visit will include the cities of New Delhi (March 19-20), Hyderabad (March 21-22) and Bangalore (March 23). Minister Gonzalez will be accompanied by the Costa Rican agencies specialized on trade and investment promotion (PROCOMER and CINDE).

• In New Delhi, Minister Gonzalez will meet with the Minister of Commerce and Industry of India, Mr. Anand Sharma; the Minister of Finance, Mr. Shri pranab Mikherjee and the Commerce Secretary, Mr. Rahul Khullar. Hopefully both governments will be able to agree and sign a Framework Agreement to Promote Economic Cooperation and an Agreement for the Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments.

• The visit will also include meetings with different Indian chambers of commerce and trade, such as the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

• On Monday 19th, The Ambassador of Costa Rica in India, Mr. Juan Manuel Cordero will offer a welcome cocktail to the Minister, with the participation of government counterparts and Costa Rican and Indian businessmen and chambers of commerce and trade.

• In Hyderabad, Minister Gonzalez will be the Guest of Honor and Keynote Speaker at the inaugural session of INDIASOFT 2012. She will meet with authorities from the Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) sponsor of INDIASOFT and will visit the CII Green Business Center.

• In Bangalore, Minister Gonzalez will meet with The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (NASSCOM) and she will visit different Indian enterprises, with the objective of exploring Investment opportunities.

Godrej makes yet another aquisition in Latin America

Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) announced on 21 January that it has entered into an agreement to acquire 60% stake in Cosmetica Nacional, a market leading hair colorant and cosmetics company in Chile. The company has a strong portfolio of brands in the hair care and color cosmetics segments. With its brands well positioned across income and age levels, Cosmetica Nacional enjoys greater than 30% market share (by volume) in the hair colorant space. With this move, GCPL continues to expand its focused presence in emerging markets in line with its global 3 x 3 strategy.

Cosmética Nacional (CN) was founded in 1979 by Fernando García, a chemist by training. He continues to lead the company as its Chief Executive Officer. CN had sales of about 36 million US dollars in the year 2011 and enjoys EBITDA margins of about 20%. The company exports its products to seven countries in the region.

In 2010 Godrej acquired two Argintine cosmetics companies.