About the event

The Republic of Costa Rica is located in the Central American region. It is bordered to the north by the Republic of Nicaragua and to the southeast by the Republic of Panama. This country has 4,652,459 inhabitants (2012) and its area is 51,100 km2. It is met to the east by the Caribbean Sea and to the west by the Pacific Ocean.

Costa Rica is one of the most consolidated democracies in America and ranks 62nd in the UNDP’s Human Development Index. The country is also recognized worldwide for having abolished its army on December 1st, 1948.

The country has also positioned itself as the first country in the world dedicated to being carbon neutral by 2021. In environmental matters, it has also managed to reverse deforestation, managing to go from 26% forest coverage in 1980 to 52% in 2012. Costa Rica has shown significant achievements and a strong commitment in its social policy, with increasing public investment in education, health and social programs.

Costa Rica is a benchmark in terms of social and economic development, its progress in environmental policies have made it a sustainable and responsible destination; it has been a pioneer of the concept of ecotourism. This is a place that offers endless possibilities, generating an enriching experience in a unique space, making it an appealing place to hold the XXI Regional Conference.

Costa Rica is an incomparable destination: it is a complete package, it is “Pura Vida”.

XXI XXI Regional Conference takes place from November 18th through the 20th, 2019*

50th Continental Congress on Cooperative Law takes place from November 20th to the 22nd, 2019

*We advise arriving November 17th, 2019.

Below are the registration costs, remember that you can participate in both events which will give you access to special rates.

XXI Regional Conference from November 18th to 20th, 2019. Register here

50th Continental Congress on Cooperative Law form November 20th to the 22nd, 2019. Register here

Important Notice to All Participants: Please keep in mind that if your payment is made after June 30th, you should consider a 13% cost increase from the added-value tax that will be in effect in Costa Rica as of July 1st, 2019.

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To get to the Hotel Intercontinental, the site of the XXI Regional Conference, you can use an official taxi transportation service from anywhere in the city of San Jose.

In case you require this service the numbers of cooperative transportation services are listed below:

Taxi service

Coopetaxis
tel (+506) 22367070 / 22359966

Coopetico
Tel: (+ 506) 2224-7979

Participants are responsible for arranging their own accommodations in a hotel that fits their budget according to the suggestions we provide in the following follow-up link. For hotels in Costa Rica, please see the following information.  Accommodations

Please note that the city of San Jose, is a tourist center, and always tends to have a high hotel occupancy, in that regard we advise you book your accommodations as soon as possible.

The Costa Rican colón is the currency in Costa Rica. Currently, there are six denominations of bills and seven types of coins in circulation.

Costa Rican colon banknotes and coins 

The official currency of Costa Rica is the Costa Rican colón and is identified with the symbol: «₡» or the ISO code CRC. It has been in circulation since 1896. Originally 1 colón was divided into 100 cents, however today the unit with the lowest denomination is 5 colones. Thus, there are coins with the denominations of 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 and 500 colones. 

Registration desk:The opening times of the registration desk, as well as the documents necessary to register, will be announced in a timely manner. Please refer to the website for updates.

Security:Security will be enforced strictly on-site. To ensure the safety of all participants, badges must be displayed at all times within the venue. Under no circumstances should your badge be loaned to another participant. At the entrance of the meeting, participants may be asked to show their badge or printed record.

Meals: Snacks will be provided to all conference participants free of charge. Lunch will be offered according to the schedules stipulated in the program, as well as in the areas and rooms assigned within the venue. Please note that if participants want to buy meals elsewhere, they must be paid for separately. For this same purpose they must bring cash (US dollars or Costa Rican colones), although most places accept credit cards.

Interpretation services:The language at the event will be Spanish, however a simultaneous translation into English will be provided for participants who require said service.

Wifi:A wireless network will be available throughout the venue.

First Aid: Finding your way to different activities: Signs will be located throughout the site to answer questions about the location of events and meeting rooms.

Accessibility:The goal of the event organizers is to eliminate hierarchy and environmental barriers that can create exclusion, unnecessary efforts, separation or special treatment. This allows everyone, regardless of disability, age, gender and religion, to participate equally, confidently and independently with dignity and the ability to choose.

Travel insurance

Event organizers deny all liability for medical, accident and travel insurance, compensation for death or disability, loss or damage of personal property, and any other costs or losses incurred during the travel time or participation time in this event. In this context, we strongly recommended obtaining international health insurance for the entire period of participation, including travel time.

All persons who, prior to their entry to Costa Rica, have been in countries that are considered at-risk, must be vaccinated against yellow fever, which must be verified with an “International Certificate of Vaccination against Yellow Fever”, which is valid 10 days after vaccination.

Persons who have been in transit in at-risk countries through airports, ports and border crossing posts on their journey to Costa Rica are exempt of the Yellow fever vaccination requirement.

Persons who have been in the countries considered to be at risk, before entering national territory and have remained for at least 6 days, in a country that is not at risk and have not developed a fever in that period are also exempt from the vaccination requirement.

Countries at Risk include:

In Africa: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Sao Tomé and Príncipe, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zambia.

In America: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, French Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.

Important information:

 International dialing code for Costa Rica: +506. 

In Costa Rica there is no city code and all phone numbers have 8 digits.

The access code for Costa Rica is 506 and the exit code is 00 followed by the code of the country you want to call. 

Costa Rica is located in the GMT -6 time zone. 

Important phone numbers:

911 Emergencies.

1113 Information. Available 24 hours and helps you find the phone number of the person you want to call.

1116 International reverse charge.

1117 Police.

1118 Fire and Paramedics Department.

1128 Ambulances.

1123 Electric company.

1128 Red Cross.

441-0744 Airport information.