Image
In a seminar on commercial opportunities that will take place on the June 12 in Tel Aviv, at least 150 Israeli entrepreneurs from the tourism, manufacturing and services sectors will learn about business options offered by Colombia.
The event, organized by PROCOLOMBIA with the support of the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce, the Israeli Ministry of Finance, The Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute, the Israeli Embassy in Colombia and the Colombia-Israel Chamber of Commerce, will be held in the convention center of the Dan Panorama Hotel in Tel Aviv.
The President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, the Israeli Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Silvan Shalom, the Israeli Ambassador to Colombia, Yoed Magen, President of the Colombia-Israel Chamber of Commerce, Luis Szapiro, and the PROCOLOMBIA President, Maria Claudia Lacouture, will all participate in the event.
" We have identified opportunities for Israeli investment in Colombia in BPO, software and IT services, outsourcing, and fashion systems," said Lacouture.
Likewise, a group of 15 Colombian companies participated in the trade mission that the Colombia-Israel Chamber of Commerce and PROCOLOMBIA organized from June 10 to 14, to explore business opportunities.
The Colombian company representatives will visit companies that have made technological advances, green buildings which maximize the use of sunlight to generate energy, and agribusiness companies. They will also hold personalized meetings according to their sector of interest.
The exporters, on the other hand, recognized some business opportunities that PROCOLOMBIA has identified for the Colombian graphics industry.
" What the 15 Colombian companies that form part of the mission have in common is that they are recognizing the development potential for new markets and investment, particularly because the Israeli business sector feels supported by the macroeconomic variables and the legal security of the country. And we see that there is the possibility for the two countries to complement each other through trade, because Colombia has products that are not produced in Israel," highlighted Luis Szapiro, President of the Colombia-Israel Chamber of Commerce.
One of the topics that will be dealt with by the companies is the transfer of technology. For example, in Israel, 80% of water is reused, and this is one of the experiences Flor López, Manager of the public service utility of Chia, wants to learn about.
" We want Israel' s technologies to help us reduce the water we' re losing in the Municipality by 38%. But we would also like to improve our wastewater plant and our recycling processes. We' re going with the aim of meeting strategic partners to adopt processes that will help us improve these systems," López stated.
The export of fruit pulp is one of the opportunities available to Colombian entrepreneurs, since the demand for preparations made with these ingredients is increasing in Israel. This added to the list of other potential export areas: household goods, construction materials, clothing, and confectionery products.
" The work PROCOLOMBIA has been doing for a while to encourage and collaborate with the entrepreneurs so that they go out and look for new markets is very important. We already sell banana and cassava hors d' oeuvres to Spain, Belgium, Mexico and New York, but we want to make our product known in Israel and we' re sure it will attract attention," indicated Germán Gaviria Santacoloma, President of Pronal and part of the trade mission.
Jorge A. Murcia, CEO of Corpoacero, stated that one of the aims of this mission is to learn about sustainable construction practices focused on projects for vulnerable sectors of the population, and community work in agriculture.
" This is the best moment for Israeli companies to come, because Colombia is their main ally in Latin America. One of the characteristics of the Israeli companies is that they expand their investment portfolios, and they are certainly looking for opportunities in the region, so we think it is a good moment to invite them to Colombia," said Yoed Magen, Israeli Ambassador to Colombia.
