More than 400 US Entrepreneurs Pursuing Business in Colombia

Entrepreneurs from the United States have increased their visits to Colombia this year because of the Free Trade Agreement, which came into effect May 15.

In the last four months, more than 400 American businessmen have come to the country interested in finding suppliers of different products and have made investments in Colombia.

The president of Proexport Maria Claudia Lacouture said even the fashion and clothing fields now are closing businesses for suppliers with local producers – at the same time they’ve expressed intentions to link their resources to producing activities in Colombia, not only in this sector, but in some others.

The recent “takeover” of New York by Colombia, that included splendid runways and business fairs, has encouraged American businessmen to define and seek business opportunities in our country.

Proexport is the Colombian entity responsible for promoting the so-called non-traditional exports and to attract foreign investment, work that has been reflected in the increased flow of external resources and has intensified with the possibility that the country can become an exporting platform, because of the terms the FTA has already negotiated, some of which have already taken effect in the United States, Canada and Chile.

Minister of Commerce, Sergio Diaz-Granados, said that under the agreement with the United States, in less than two months – from May 15 to July 9 – the sub-sectors of cheese and dairy products sent 128 tons to that country, compared favorably with the 150 tons invoiced in all of 2011 and including butter.

This, he added, because the negotiated quota of 5,000 tons of said products don’t pay fees going into the U.S. market, which also demonstrates the sector can export to the United States.

Diaz-Granados said he already met with the dairy chamber of Fedegan to examine ways to quickly fill the quota of the 5,000 tons required.