Carlos Wong: Influencing the Dynamism of Medical Devices Exports In Costa Rica

Costa Rica has established itself as the second largest exporter of medical devices in Latin America, owing to an increasing number of companies investing in the country. This reflects Costa Rica’s ability to boost the production of medical equipment, thus saving millions of lives globally.

As per Carlos Wong, the Managing Director of Coyol Free Zone, the country has immense potential to attract foreign investment, thereby improving the quality of life for its citizens and creating employment opportunities for thousands. He is inspired to leverage the life sciences dynamism at Coyol Free Zone, which is home to seven of the top 30 global medical device companies, accounting for over 52.2% of medical device exports from Costa Rica and generating over US$2,088 million in exports per year.

The goal of Coyol Free Zone is to offer innovative solutions that positively impact its partners, collaborators, and the community. Carlos maintains a close relationship and communication with all stakeholders in order to understand their unique requirements and adapt existing services or create new ones to meet their needs. As a leader in medical device exports, he is involved in the leadership, planning, execution, and control of different services and operations.

Let’s dive in to learn more about Carlos’ contribution to Costa Rica’s Dynamism of Medical Device Exports that makes him the Most Influential Leaders in Life Sciences 2023.

Venturing into Life Sciences

Carlos’ inspiration to venture into the field of Life Sciences was the people. The Life Sciences industry offered him the chance to work with companies that are creating groundbreaking solutions every day to improve the quality of life for people and solve some of the biggest problems they face daily. “With Coyol Free Zone, we can also leverage the dynamism of this sector to help provide quality employment to thousands of people in our country, directly through job openings by the companies installed in the park and indirectly through the ecosystem of local providers that we have built around them,” says Carlos.

Journey So Far

Carlos’ journey started more than 30 years ago when he was offered the chance to work with the Costa Rican government in the promotion and development of the Free Trade Zone Regime. After that, he worked in the private sector with the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE), leading Foreign Direct Investment processes and strengthening the investment climate of the country. With this expertise, he ventured into the development and construction of more than 5 Free Zone parks in Costa Rica.

Coyol Free Zone started operations more than 15 years ago, built on the vision of transforming a sugar cane field outside the Metropolitan Area into a bustling industrial park that could push forward the development of that region. “And now we are expanding on this vision with a new park called Evolution Free Zone, in the emergent westbound of the Central Valley” adds Carlos.

Costa Rica’s Manufacturing Export Sector

Costa Rica’s investment and commitment to developing its people have proven to be a differential factor for highly technical companies from the Life Sciences sector to invest here confidently. The country’s political stability and environmental leadership support this fundamental pillar for investment. With the Nearshoring trend on the rise, Costa Rica has benefitted as a country by building the conditions to take the best from it and attract those companies who are willing to open, relocate or expand their operation.

In that sense, Coyol Free Zone offers a world-class infrastructure that provides the real estate platform that high-technology companies for Life Sciences companies require. Furthermore, its engineering team has highly specialized expertise in the construction of plants suited for the medical devices industry, which gives certainty to companies that Coyol has the ability to adapt to their requirements.

Contributing to the Medical Devices Export Sector

As Managing Director, Carlos is involved with the leadership, planning, execution and control of the different services and operations that the company runs. To deliver on the company’s promise, he needs to keep a close relationship and communication with all the clients, which allows Coyol to stay up to date with all their needs, create new services, or adapt the existing ones to their unique requirements. On the other hand, Carlos is always studying, and analyzing trends, and good practices from other countries. He is also looking for continuous improvement and innovation in the company’s services.

Innovation is a Key to Attract and Support Clients

Innovation is a pivotal pillar in Coyol’s business strategy and corporate culture, as all of their teams constantly look for the best way to support the company’s clients.

Carlos believes, “Following Coyol’s core values, innovation born from thinking out of the box but shall be consistent with the best sustainability practices, fulfill the needs of our clients, and adhere strictly to the legal frameworks.”

He continues, “Across the value chain, we look to integrate new methodologies and systems for park management, talent development, and environmental protection. We aim to adapt the best global practices available for our clients and ease their task of creating life-saving products. Our work in this respect has transformed Coyol Free Zone into a One-Stop Shop for them.”

Leveraging Technology

For any company, the digital agenda is the key unifying element that allows them to frame and enhance the processes and services that they can offer to their clients. For these purposes, Coyol Free Zone has been developing cutting-edge technological platforms in talent development, transportation network management, and construction and administration of buildings. An example of this is its RIDE COYOL transportation system which has a digital payment method that has drastically reduced waste and provided smarter, and more efficient management of this network that is run alongside local providers.

Sustainability is a Pillar for Environmental Leadership

“As a Real Estate development group, we have established sustainability as one of its key pillars by recognizing that we all have a role to play in lessening our impact and being a force for good, especially in a country highly regarded for its environmental leadership,” states Carlos.

Their sustainability agenda focuses on several key areas: The first one is people with a strong program for the development of the skills that allows a better employability of people through the development of proprietary digital training programs and on-site alliances with educational institutions like TEC, INA and UTN. Another important element of this strategy is the improvement of the educational infrastructure in the region providing better classrooms, supporting STEM education and providing fellowships for English teaching. Also, the protection of the environment and reforestation are present in their agenda with important programs in water reutilization and replanting of native trees.

Endeavors at Present

Carlos works alongside the clients to accomplish the company’s objectives for sustainable development, providing the necessary infrastructure to power their operations from renewable energy and efficient resource management throughout their production processes.

Coyol also invests heavily in improving the conditions and quality of human talent in the country through learning and development programs, alliances with local academic institutions, and recruitment support. Among these are courses specialized in the manufacturing of medical devices, and support for people who want to finish their studies.

Turning Challenges into Opportunities

As the project has grown, Carlos and the team have always looked to keep the same inspiration and values that led them more than 15 years ago to launch Coyol Free Zone. “The ‘Think out of the box’ mentality has opened new avenues for our development, going beyond just an industrial park and pushing us to focus even more on maintaining our fundamental values and scope as a company,” adds Carlos.

Words of Wisdom

To the budding enthusiasts who are willing to venture into the Life Sciences industry, Carlos advises, “Three pillars are fundamental to a Life Science business: relationships, persistence, and quality. Surrounding yourself with the best people and understanding the needs of all your stakeholders is a must-do. Also, when inevitable hardship and doubt arrive, move forward, and do quality work, always.”

About Carlos Wong

Carlos has extensive experience as General Director in several Free Trade Zones, currently for Coyol Free Zone. In the private, non-profit organization, he’s had responsibilities in the Free Trade Zone Corporation and with several positions within Cinde, the investment promotion agency of Costa Rica, where he functioned as an Investment Program Director and Director for the Asia Pacific Region based in Hong Kong and Taiwan. He has also been a consultant for the World Bank and Professor and Researcher at the Institute of Economic Sciences of the University of Costa Rica.

Mr. Wong has an MBA in Management from the InterAmerican University of Costa Rica, as well as postgraduate programs in International Marketing at Georgetown University. He graduated from the School of Economics at the University of Costa Rica. He has also been a member of the Boards of Directors of private sector organizations such as AZOFRAS, CPC, Cadexco, UCCAEP, and AZFA.