Amendment to Article 14 of the Papagayo Gulf Tourism Project RegulationReforma al párrafo tercero del artículo 14 del Reglamento a la Ley para el

6758 of May 6, 1982, Regulatory Law for the Development and Execution of the Gulf of Papagayo Tourism Project, in its Articles 12 and 13 subsection b) grants the Costa Rican Tourism Institute the power to establish the conditions and timeframes under which concessions are granted in the Gulf of Papagayo Tourism Development Pole (Polo Turístico Golfo Papagayo).

6758 of May 6, 1982, Regulatory Law for the Development and Execution of the Gulf of Papagayo Tourism Project, assigned to the Costa Rican Institute of Tourism (ICT) the function of direction, coordination, administration, execution, development, and control of the Gulf of Papagayo Tourism Development Pole, all through an Executing Office created for that purpose and attached to the Institute, which it is necessary to regulate for a more efficient and effective provision of the services it is charged with.

3. That Law No. 6758 of May 6, 1982, Regulatory Law for the Development and Execution of the Gulf of Papagayo Tourism Project, consistent with Article 4 of Law No. 1917 of July 30, 1955, Organic Law of the ICT, as well as with Article 50 of the Political Constitution, has among its public purposes the principle of state promotion and fostering of national productive activity, in this case, of environmentally sustainable and touristically productive tourism activity.

4. That since 1996, based on the regulation to the cited Law, Executive Decree No. 25439-MP-TUR of August 27, 1996, called "Regulation to the Law for the Development and Execution of the Gulf of Papagayo Tourism Project", the ICT has been setting the value per square meter of the concessioned lands, with five-year adjustments, for the purposes of calculating the payment of the annual fee (canon anual) that the Tourism Development Pole concession holders (concesionarios) must pay to the respective Municipality (Municipalidad), whose concession is wholly or partially located within the restricted zone of the terrestrial maritime zone (zona marítimo terrestre), as provided in Article 18 of Law No. 6758 of May 6, 1982, Regulatory Law for the Development and Execution of the Gulf of Papagayo Tourism Project.

5. That the Executive Directorate (Dirección Ejecutiva) of the Executing Office and the Governing Council of the Tourism Development Pole, have conducted technical studies on the current value per square meter that should serve as the basis for the calculation regarding the aforementioned municipal fee (canon), the latter having agreed in its extraordinary session No. 12-2012 of June 5, 2012, to recommend to the Board of Directors (Junta Directiva) of the ICT the modification of the value to the sum of US $3.04 -legal tender of the United States of America- for each square meter granted in concession for a term of twenty years.

6. That the special law of the Papagayo Tourism Development Pole recognized that public law entities that have fees (cánones) or rates stipulated in their favor -by means of a law- have the power to continue collecting them in the concessions granted by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute. Therefore, since Article 48 of Law No. 6043 Law on the Terrestrial Maritime Zone of March 2, 1977, provides that concessions on the restricted zone must pay a fee (canon) to the Municipalities (Municipalidades) with jurisdiction in the coastal zone, private individuals who have received their concession right in this Tourism Development Pole and the concessioned area involves wholly or partially the restricted zone of the terrestrial maritime zone, regarding that strip of land, are also obligated to pay this municipal fee (canon).

7. That the Gulf of Papagayo Tourism Development Pole was created as a policy to boost tourism activity in the Central American region, particularly in those areas that until then were undeveloped, which due to their characteristics were suitable for those purposes and that at that time had a need for such economic and social impetus. By virtue of the circumstances of the time, the "Bahía Culebra" Project, as it was originally called, had to have elements and conditions that constituted an incentive for the specific investment sought, to truly create a first-level Tourism Development Pole, within areas that until that time lacked any development.

8. That although by legal provision, the exclusive responsibility for setting the value of the concessions granted in Papagayo as well as the formula for calculating the municipal fee (canon) corresponds to the Costa Rican Institute of Tourism, it is also necessary that, like the ICT, the Municipalities (Municipalidades) of Liberia and Carrillo ensure for themselves a proportional collection of the fee (canon), duly updated, for the use of the Terrestrial Maritime Zone. Therefore, as a consequence of the modification in the amount of the fee (canon) that must be paid for the concept of the original concession before the ICT, the amendment of the third paragraph of Article 14 of the Regulation to the Law for the Development and Execution of the Gulf of Papagayo Tourism Project, Executive Decree No. 25439-MP-TUR of August 27, 1996, must also proceed, so that henceforth it is understood as the basis for calculating the value of the concession the new amount approved by the Board of Directors (Junta Directiva).

THEY DECREE AMENDMENT TO THE THIRD PARAGRAPH OF ARTICLE 14 OF THE REGULATION TO THE LAW FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND EXECUTION OF THE GULF OF PAPAGAYO TOURISM PROJECT

25439- MP-TUR of August 27, 1996, so that it reads as follows:

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For the determination of said annual fee (canon anual), the interested Municipality (Municipalidad) shall request that the Executive Directorate (Dirección Ejecutiva) of the Executing Office certify the value of the concession granted, which shall be calculated at the rate of three dollars and four cents, legal tender of the United States of America (US$3.04) per square meter of concessioned land. Said value shall be adjusted following the procedure established in the fourth paragraph of Article 12 of this Regulation, determining the value of the concession in local currency, applying the reference buying exchange rate established by the Central Bank of Costa Rica on December fifteen of each year.

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Done at the Presidency of the Republic, on the twenty-fifth day of July of two thousand twelve.

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Para la fijación de dicho canon anual, la Municipalidad interesada solicitará a la Dirección Ejecutiva de la Oficina Ejecutora le acredite el valor de la concesión otorgada, el cual se calculará a razón de tres dólares con cuatro centavos, moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América (US$3.04) por cada metro cuadrado de terreno concesionado. Dicho valor, será ajustado siguiendo el procedimiento establecido en el cuarto párrafo del artículo 12 de este Reglamento, determinándose el valor de la concesión en moneda local, aplicando el tipo de cambio de compra de referencia establecido por el Banco Central de Costa Rica al quince de diciembre de cada año.

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Dado en la Presidencia de la República, a los veinticinco días del mes de julio del dos mil doce.