María José Jiménez Hidalgo

Investment Intelligence Analyst | Customs & International Trade | Sustainability

Costa Rica

About

I'm a passionate professional with a solid background in customs administration and international trade. My journey has allowed me to gain hands-on experience in data analysis, public policies, finance analysis, trade, sustainability, and foreign direct investment, enabling me to understand diverse perspectives and adapt to dynamic environments. In addition, I am currently pursuing a law degree at the University of Costa Rica. As a lifelong learner, I continuously seek opportunities to expand my knowledge and embrace emerging trends. I believe in fostering collaboration and cultivating strong professional relationships, as I truly believe that teamwork and shared insights lead to innovative breakthroughs.

Experience

  • Investment Analyst, Business Intelligence Department at Promotora del Comercio Exterior de Costa Rica (PROCOMER)
    May 2024 - Present · 2 yrs 2 mos

    Responsibilities: - Develop financial models (such as Profit & Loss Model and Discounted Cash Flow) that illustrate the strategic and financial advantages of investing in Costa Rica over alternative locations, enabling CFOs to make informed, data-driven decisions. - Support potential investors by delivering critical insights and guidance to drive the establishment of their operations in the country. - Generate comprehensive, insight-driven deep dives on high-potential companies and industry segments to enable proactive outreach and attract new investment opportunities. - Play a key role within the Sustainability Committee by actively shaping the development of PROCOMER’s first comprehensive Sustainability Strategy, ensuring measurable environmental, social, and economic impact from ideation to full implementation.

  • CINDE - Experts in FDI (Costa Rica)
    • Income Generation Analyst
      Aug 2023 - Apr 2024 · 9 mos

      Responsibilities: - Implement CINDE's income generation strategy under an agile project management framework, aiming to strengthen CINDE's institutional and financial sustainability. This included developing a services portfolio with sales potential and their respective cost structure. - Facilitate the generation of new projects by identifying potential clients' requirements for consulting or investment advisory services. - Provide recommendations to enable the development of business cases, and the delivery of well-crafted customized proposals to meet those specific needs. - Conduct comprehensive research on multilateral organizations, investment promotion agencies, consultants, and potential clients, overseeing the registration as a vendor and the application to potential consulting tenders.

    • Investment Advisory Analyst
      May 2022 - Apr 2024 · 2 yrs

      Responsibilities: - Provide decision makers in multinational companies with comprehensive analysis and tools to assess the benefits of setting up or expanding its operations in Costa Rica. - Develop financial models (such as P&L and DCF) that clearly demonstrate the advantages of investing in Costa Rica over other countries and enable CFOs to make data-driven decisions. - Proactively identify opportunities that allow the Investment Advisory Department to reach out to organizations whose strategy allows them to have a next phase in Costa Rica. - Conduct data analysis based on Microsoft CRM information for internal decision-making processes.

  • Trade Negotiator—Advisor for Trade and Sustainable Development & North America Affairs at Ministry of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica
    Sep 2019 - Mar 2022 · 2 yrs 7 mos

    Responsibilities: - Provide technical advice to the North America Affairs Forum and the Trade and Sustainable Development Forum. - Collaborate in tasks related to the administration of the Dominican Republic, Central America and the United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) and the Free Trade Agreement between Costa Rica and Canada. - Participate in the working sessions for the construction and negotiation of the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS). - Serve as the Ministry's deputy member before CONAGEBIO, attending the Commission's ordinary sessions, analyzing draft legislative proposals, and advocating COMEX's position and interests. - Engage in the OECD meetings related to trade, investment and sustainable development; international delegation visits, conferences, and similar activities. - Perform research to provide the necessary elements of analysis, follow-up, and evaluation of topics of interest.

  • Intern at CINDE - Agencia de Promoción de Inversión de Costa Rica
    Jun 2018 - Aug 2019 · 1 yr 3 mos

    Responsibilities: - Implement a new categorization of investment opportunities according to complexity and sophistication of productive linkages related to Foreign Direct Investment. - Provide assistance in the analysis of databases related to productive linkages. - Update of the CRM information system and data analysis. - Deep dives and benchmarks on FDI topics of interest. - Collaboration in the organization of events and administrative tasks.