Costa Rican president Rodrigo Chaves said he has signed a decree that effectively bars China and Huawei from taking part in the development of its 5G networks. “On Friday, my Minister of Science and Technology and I signed a government decree that basically requires that the countries of potential sellers and suppliers must have adopted the principles of the Bucharest agreement,” confirmed Chaves, according to local news agency Infobae.
He was referring to the Washington-backed law passed by the Romanian government in 2021 banning Chinese-controlled firms from the development of 5G due to security concerns. Chaves added that “our state-owned utility and telecommunications company [ICE], and eventually all 5G providers, public and private, will be limited to purchasing equipment technology only from trusted suppliers.”
The announcement came a day after Chaves met US president Joe Biden in the White House and Intel committed to investing a total of USD 1.2 billion in its Costa Rican operations over the next two years.
Last month, the US State Department struck a major deal with Costa Rica’s government to support the country’s semiconductor industry development, workforce and infrastructure needs via the 2022 Chips and Science Act.
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