To augment CINDE’s work , Costa Rica established an export processing zone (EPZ) that allowed exporting companies to import all inputs and equipment tax free , exempted them from paying Costa Rican income tax for eight years and taxed them at only 50 percent for the next four. By 1989 , 35 companies—mainly textile and footwear producers seeking to take advantage of the country’s pool of inexpensive labor—had located in the EPZ.