According to a report on Forbes.com, Moody’s Investors Service “revised the outlook on Costa Rica’s key ratings to positive from stable following ‘significant improvement in fiscal and debt positions and the likelihood of the improvement continuing in the medium term’.”

This follows closely on the heels of a similar announcement last month by Standard & Poor’s, which upgraded Costa Rica’s risk rating from “stable” to “positive”.

So, despite a general decline in markets and ratings on the global level, things are humming along in Costa Rica, as the country continues to draw new investors and business ventures. Among the latest and certainly one of the most prestigious new investments, is Amazon.com, Inc., which has announced plans to open a call center in San José to help with the growing demand for customer service in Spanish. The electronic commerce giant will also be hiring English speakers in Costa Rica to help with the coming holiday rush.

Amazon is one of the most popular online retailers in Latin America even though it didn’t even have a Spanish language version of its website until recently. Given the combination of lower wages and an eager and well-educated workforce, the decision to open the San José call center was a no-brainer for the online giant.

Ethical Traveler developed its list by examining environmental protection, social welfare and human rights in developing nations throughout the world. The group looked at not only current programs and policies, but at past initiatives and conditions in order to determine trends towards ethical policies. The studies used to determine the scores for 70+ developing nations focused on reducing environmental stresses on human health and promoting ecosystem vitality and sound natural resource management.

The scores were classified into three main categories: Environmental Protection, Social Welfare, and Human Rights.

Costa Rica scored particularly well on the Environmental Protection scale, with very high levels of overall environmental health, biodiversity, air quality, excellent water resources, and a growing use of sustainable energy. The nation also earned the highest possible scores on the Social Welfare and Human Rights scales, which took into account child mortality rates, civil liberties, and other quantifiers.

Significantly, half of the Top Ten nations on the list are Latin American countries striving to catch up with Costa Rica, which has been excelling in ecotourism and sustainable development for some time now.

This prestigious rating can only help the market for sustainable development projects in Costa Rica, as investors are ever on the lookout for favorable prospects and attractive locations.