CINDE announces: Smith & Nephew Innovates with the Opening of a specialized Service Center

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, Jan. 29, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The global medical device company, Smith & Nephew opened its GBS (Global Business Services) operation in Costa Rica today, to provide globally specialized shared services.

This diversification of operations will allow the addition of 150 new collaborators in the next two years, with an investment of around 1.8 million dollars.

The inauguration of the GBS was attended by the President of the Republic, Luis Guillermo Solís, as well as senior representatives of the company and the Government.

"We are pleased to announce the establishment of the new Global Business Services operation of Smith & Nephew, a highly-qualified company in the sports medicine market. This is a new proof that we have the right recipe for attracting investments: talented people, great business climate and political stability, service infrastructure in continuous improvement and a strategic and privileged position. This administration has given a boost to strengthen the competitiveness of the country with more jobs and welfare in the sights", said the President Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera.

In the field of sports medicine, Smith & Nephew specialize in the manufacture of instruments and implants needed to perform minimally invasive surgeries. This includes the repair of soft tissue injuries and degenerative disorders of the knee, hip and shoulders.

This new operation is unique in the country because it will provide non-traditional shared services, involving professionals from specialized areas (for example, engineers or biologists to improve the attention of queries and processes related to the devices manufactured by the company.

The Minister of Foreign Trade, Alexander Mora noted that: "Since the beginning of its operation in the country, Smith & Nephew keeps a sustained growth. In the manufacturing sector, the company has positioned itself worldwide as a pioneer and innovator in the design of advanced medical devices, focused on improving the quality of life of the patients. With operations in more than one hundred countries, Costa Rica has become a key location for Smith & Nephew. Its manufacturing operations have recruited and trained more than a thousand Costa Rican employees, generating specialized skills and improving its positioning in the labor market. We are excited to know about this new operation of the company in the country, which diversifies and expands its presence into the Service Sector. We salute the company for this inauguration and appreciate the confidence placed in Costa Rica. We will continue working hard in order to assure our positon as a landmark for the company. "

This is the first Smith & Nephew service center, created by the company and is a vote of confidence in the talent and capabilities of the Costa Rican team to execute the strategy of Smith & Nephew.

Human Resources, Regulatory Compliance, Payroll, Financial and Technological Services will be addressed from Costa Rica, and provided to the United States of America and Latin America.

The company will look for Costa Rican talent in the areas of business administration, engineering, finance and biology, as well as people with experience in customer service and proficiency in English and/or Portuguese.

The Managing Director of CINDE, Jorge Sequeira, pointed: "Smith & Nephew is a clear example of how companies achieve the diversification of operations in the country –due to the quality of Costa Rican human talent– the creation of high-quality jobs. Only in 2017 multinational companies supported by CINDE generated 23% of total employment in the private sector".

The new operation of GBS -located in Coyol de Alajuela, where the company recently opened a new manufacturing plant, has already recruited 50 employees.

"Our manufacturing plant in Costa Rica is one of the largest and most important in Smith & Nephew. We started with the execution of the first services two years ago, with a team located in Coyol. We are impressed by the caliber of this talented team, and as a result, we have decided to expand the size and establish the GBS in Costa Rica to add value to our services in the business," said Cyrille Petit, President of Global Business Services for Smith and Nephew.

This operation represents a diversification in the generation of qualified employment opportunities for the area where the main industrial activity is the advanced manufacturing of medical devices.

"We are consolidating traditional tasks in areas such as human resources and finance, as well as non-traditional tasks of the medical device industry. This allows us to continue employing administrators, accountants and engineers, but also to open new job opportunities for professionals from other careers such as biology or nursing. We are also committed to generating specialized job opportunities so that people do not have to travel outside the province to access better jobs and continue attracting people from San José and Heredia " explained Esteban Coronado, director of GBS for Costa Rica.

Smith & Nephew started operations in Costa Rica in 2002. In 2014, the company strengthened its position in the sports medicine market with the acquisition of ArthroCare

SOURCE Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency

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