February 7, 2023
On March 22nd and 23rd, the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Tourism, along with ProColombia, the agency in charge of promoting Colombian exports internationally, will host the most crucial business meeting in the country in the city of Barranquilla.
Around two thousand Colombian providers are expected to meet with one thousand buyers from 60 different countries, the delegation of the United States being the largest one.
“This international trade promotion activity aims to generate business meetings to bring the Colombian supply of non-mining energy products and services closer to the international demand. Having this event of such magnitude for the first time in Barranquilla is meaningful. This city has one of the busiest ports in our country, and the Caribbean region has a diversified exportable offer,” said Carmen Caballero, president of ProColombia.
It is worth mentioning that, according to the National Statistics Department (DANE), Colombia’s non-mining exports reached US$21.6 billion between January and December 2022, representing an increase of 19% compared to the same period in 2021. The United States, Ecuador, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, and the Netherlands were the largest buyers of high-quality Colombian products and services.
Talking specifically about the United States, last year, Colombia exported US$ 6.6 billion to the US; this represented a 27% growth compared to the same period in 2021. Exports to the United States represented 31% of Colombian exports globally.
Even though traditionally, the most desired Colombian goods in the United States have been flowers, coffee, construction finishes, sourcing, and apparel, in the last few years, other sectors have shown remarkable dynamism and represent an immense opportunity for the local providers, such as metalworking and other manufacturing industries, auto parts, exotic fruits, rubber, plastics, and packaging.
“The United States, as well as our neighbors in Latin America and the Caribbean, will play a pivotal role during our Forum by doing business with Colombian exporters that bring the best commodities and services from different territories across our country. We want to invite North American buyers to keep discovering other industrial regions of Colombia and to think of Colombia as a geographically close and strategic ally for all their sourcing needs,” concluded Caballero.