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Everything is ready at the WTC - Sheraton Sao Paulo to receive the 165 buyers from Brazil who will meet with 135 Colombian exporters this Thursday the first and Friday the second of September in the Business Matchmaking Forum organized by PROCOLOMBIA Colombia.
Colombian businessmen arrived in Sao Paulo from Bogota in the early hours of Wednesday to prepare for the trade meeting, where there are already 1,079 confirmed appointments, and which will be inaugurated by the president of PROCOLOMBIA, Marí a Claudia Lacouture.
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Aboisso Munir, director of the company, said they would be present at the Business Matchmaking Forum looking for value-added products extracted from palm oil, such as margarine and cocoa butter, among others. Photo: PROCOLOMBIA |
The Business Matchmaking Forum Colombia-Brazil is part of the Exporter Support Scheme led by PROCOLOMBIA for businesses affected by the revaluation, the ATPDEA and the heavy rainfalls with about 50 activities around the world, and will benefit about 1,200 exporters.
" For us the first thing is to get to know the market first hand, which is a great opportunity to identify trends and consumption, a critical task, thus making business contacts with whom we have already been open to negotiations," said Patricia Serna from Frugen S.A., Manizales, a company offering filled chocolates and fruit.
Among the Colombian entrepreneurs are also Alejandro Gomez from Zemoga Inc, a digital innovation agency which exports 95 percent of its production to the United States.
" We want to expand in the region and Brazil is a country with many opportunities. Our experience working for the US market means support for Latin America," he said.
Gomez said the Business Matchmaking forum is " an effective space that gives us the opportunity to sit down calmly and tell our experience."
On its part, the Business Matchmaking Forum will not only allow Celumaní a, a mobile entertainment company, to have high-level contacts with operators in Brazil, but will also meet with legal advisors to establish the company in the country.
" Brazil is an interesting market, the largest in Latin America and have the challenge not only of the language, but also the arrival of cellular operators with more than 60 million consumers, far more than those in other countries," said Hans Belke, commercial director of Celumaní a for emerging countries.
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One of the Brazilian buyers will be Aboissa, the largest company marketing of fats and oils. Photo: PROCOLOMBIA |
" Thanks to the business conference organized by PROCOLOMBIA, we have 15 contacts, appointments with cellular operators and with people who develop the legal aspect of the arrival of a company," he said.
One of the Brazilian buyers will be Aboissa, the largest company marketing of fats and oils.
Aboisso Munir, director of the company, said they would be present at the Business Matchmaking Forum looking for value-added products extracted from palm oil, such as margarine and cocoa butter, among others.
According to the information published by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism, based on DANE figures, exports to Brazil in 2010 reached US$1.040 billion, of which 62.8 percent were non-traditional products with sales in the amount of US$653.4 million.
Moreover, the sale of non-traditional products grew by 68.8 percent with respect to 2009, mostly due to the positive behavior of the manufacturing sector, which represented 94.4 percent of the total, and generated revenues for US$616.6 million.
Opportunities
PROCOLOMBIA has found that Colombia may offer different products at competitive prices and excellent quality construction materials, men' s and women' s leather accessories, especially quality belts, sandals, wallets and purses.
There are also large possibilities for business in Brazil for traditional flowers, acknowledged worldwide for their quality, as well as oil and gas, dairy products, natural cosmetics, autoparts, belts, purses, garment materials, engineering and construction, and the printing and graphic arts industry.
