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A total of 589 companies from the Pacific Alliance, including buyers and exporters, confirmed their participation in the first Business Matchmaking Forum to be held by the trade bloc made up of Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico.
" Through this Matchmaking Forum, entrepreneurs from the member countries will be able to learn first-hand about the business opportunities offered by the Alliance. In Colombia's case, we have not only identified around 500 products with export potential, but also others that complement the other three economies, which could generate interesting alternative production chains," explained Maria Claudia Lacouture, president of Proexport. This entity organized the event together with Prochile, ProMexico and PromPeru.
The event will take place June 19 and 20 in the Valle del Pacifico Event Center in Cali, where the entrepreneurs will hold around 3,800 business meetings, each lasting 40 minutes.
There will be 215 purchasing companies present, Colombia will have the largest delegation with 77, followed by Mexico with 54, Chile with 44 and Peru with 40. In total, 273 entrepreneurs will visit Cali.
They will be able to learn about products of the 374 exporting companies, represented by 467 entrepreneurs from the four countries: 137 from Colombia, 96 from Chile, 80 from Mexico and 61 from Peru.
The range of products will be based on non-mining/energy products in which export potential has been identified, from the agribusiness, manufacturing, clothing and services sectors.
From the food sector, there will be fresh fruit and vegetable companies, some processed products such as vegetables, fruits, specialty coffees and sauces, alcoholic beverages and soft drinks, frozen seafood, nuts and dried fruits, and vegetable fats and oils.
The products on offer from the manufacturing sector will include construction materials, goods related to the electricity sector, occupational safety items, furniture, worked and semi-worked timber, chemicals, paint, lacquers, varnishes, agrochemicals, hand-held tools and abrasives, institutional and home supplies, equipment and raw materials for the mining and oil industry, cosmetics and toiletries, containers and packaging, and drugs and orthopedic products.
From the clothing sector, there will be clothing items, textiles, footwear, jewelry and novelty accessories, and leather goods.
The services sector will offer construction services, engineering services (such as those related to infrastructure and energy), and software and information technology services.
About the Pacific Alliance
The economic and trade integration mechanism between Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru was formally established June 6, 2012. The mechanism had various aims, including creating an area of deep integration to progressively advance toward the free circulation of goods, services, capital and people.
As well as providing a boost to intraregional trade, it works toward becoming a platform for political articulation, economic and trade integration, and projection to the world, with special emphasis on the Asia-Pacific region.
Since its inception, it has established itself as one of the most important trade blocs in Latin America. Overall, according to figures from the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, the four members of the Pacific Alliance represent 50% of the region's trade with exports of USD 556 billion and imports of USD 551 billion in 2012.
Costa Rica and Panama are currently acting as observer countries. They are candidates for Alliance membership. Other observers are Spain, Canada, Guatemala, Uruguay, New Zealand, Australia and Japan.
Some Achievements
There are already many examples of collaborative work carried out by the four countries. They have opened a trade office in Istanbul (Turkey), and another is to open soon in Casablanca (Morocco). Also, a shared embassy was opened in Ghana (Africa).
In 2012, a group of 36 companies from Colombia and Chile shared a space at the Fine Foods fair in India, and six seminars about investment opportunities were held in China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan.
The countries acted collaboratively in the latest Seoul Food and Hotel event in South Korea, and they will soon be together at Fine Foods in India and Anuga in Germany.
In addition, 19 seminars were held at 13 markets to promote investment opportunities, and two other activities were recently held in Cali: the First Business Meeting and the Seventh Pacific Alliance Summit, at which Colombia assumed the provisional presidency of the bloc.
A Cooperation Fund has also been created, which will guarantee the funding of projects on matters such as the environment and climate change, innovation, science and technology, micro, small and medium enterprises, social development, and academic mobility.
Another of the achievements was the creation of a Business Council made up of a group of entrepreneurs from the four countries who, individually and voluntarily, agreed to act as Pacific Alliance promoters.
