Kimberly-Clark will invest $42 million in its production and supply center as well as in its Global Shared Services Center in Costa Rica.

With the new investment, the company will buy high-tech equipment to manufacture more baby, kids and feminine care products, as well as expand the production plant and the Global Shared Services Center, promoting more employment in the country.

“This is a day to celebrate in Kimberly-Clark, our country, and the communities that have become our home for so long,” said Gonzalo Uribe, Kimberly-Clark’s Vice President of Northern Latin America.

“This investment demonstrates the great history that we have in Costa Rica and our compromise to make our business grow even more in here. We are proud to supply essential products for Latin America and be a company where people can develop their careers,” he added.

The investment is part of Kimberly-Clark’s plan to increase its production capacity for domestic consumption and exports. The company supplies Costa Rica with a daily production of more than 3 million diapers and 2,5 million sanitary napkins. It also produces 5 million products daily to supply Central America, Panama, the Caribbean and the United States (Puerto Rico).

The Head of State’s visit to the Kimberly-Clark plant in Coris was an opportunity to highlight the company’s growth potential in Costa Rica.

“Having Costa Rica as an investment center in Latin America is key for the country’s development and is reflected in more opportunities for our citizens. We are pleased to know that our strengths as Costa Ricans have opened the door to new jobs that improve the life quality of more families,” said President Carlos Alvarado.

For his part, the Vice Minister of Foreign Trade, Duayner Salas, said: “it is a privilege to have, in our country, companies internationally known, such as Kimberly-Clark. Their permanence and new investments confirm that our country has favorable competitive conditions and a positive investment climate.”

Jorge Sequeira Picado, Managing Director at CINDE, declared: “in 2014, Kimberly-Clark invested US $31 million and today, it reaffirms its commitment to Costa Rica by giving us the positive news of an additional US $42 million investment. Additionally, the company will increase its employment footprint in the services center. This announcement confirms, once again, the strong roots that multinational companies develop in the country, which translates into more and better jobs for Costa Ricans.”

The Kimberly-Clark expansion plan in Costa Rica, which seeks to increase production and create new jobs, also plans to hire more people in its Global Shared Services Center, where more than one million corporate transactions are processed annually for the region.

“In the last 18 months, Kimberly-Clark tripled the number of professionals working at the Global Shared Services Center in Costa Rica. Today, this is the largest center in the company globally, with more than 400 professionals in Accounting, Finance, Purchasing and Taxes that serve North America, Latin America and Europe. The growth continues, planning to reach over 500 employees in 2020,” said Rolando Álvarez, Director of the Global Services Center.

“We are proud to be a center of highly qualified talent worldwide and we are committed to investing in innovative programs and benefits that make us an excellent place to work,” Alvarez added.

For 22 years, Kimberly-Clark has grown its business in Costa Rica, contributing to the communities where it operates. In 2018, it invested more than $5,2 million to open a 5,100 square meters warehouse of raw material in Cartago. It also maintains a strong commitment to sustainability. Recycling programs, such as “AmbientaDos”, has collected more than 21,000 metric tons of post-consumer waste enter landfills.

“We are very excited to bring cutting-edge technologies to the country to boost innovation and improve the access of our products in a sustainable way,” said David Hauser, Director of Operations for the North America region of Kimberly-Clark.

Kimberly-Clark employs a total of 1,500 employees in its production plant, factories, distribution center, national headquarters, regional headquarters and its global service center in Costa Rica, supporting the commercialization of several of its brands including Scott, Kotex , Huggies, Plenitud and Kleenex.