Explained by better promotional efforts, the proportion of Costa Rican SMEs that export to Asian, South American and Caribbean countries continues to grow.
Thursday, July 12, 2018
According to the Foreign Trade Promotion Office (Procomer), last year 86% of companies that sold goods in South America were SMEs, in the case of Asia the proportion reached 81% and for the Caribbean it was 80%.
Regarding the reason why SMEs have these markets as their main sales destination, Karina López, coordinator of Market Research at Procomer, explained to Nacion.com that "...The fact that MSMEs are interested in exporting to markets such as Asia and South America is largely due to the promotion and knowledge of these regions, the work of this promoter and entrepreneurs encourages and guides small and medium enterprises to try to place their products in new markets, away from the traditional Central American ones."
For her part, Laura Bonilla, president of the Chamber of Exporters of Costa Rica (Cadexco), said that "...In the case of the Caribbean and South America, the promotion of our exportable offer has been strengthened in recent years. Efforts have also been intensified to identify commercial opportunities and achieve better use of new trade agreements, such as those of Peru and Colombia, which has benefited this type of company."
According to Guatemalan sugar producers, Africa and New Zealand are two of the markets that in recent years have generated growth opportunities for exports of the sector.
According to figures from the Bank of Guatemala, sugar exports to New Zealand increased from $11 million from January to August 2017 to $33 million for the same period this year.
Rumors are that the U.S. Federal Reserve is preparing to reduce its bond purchase program, motivating the sale of bonds in emerging markets.
"A rise in bond yields in developed markets and a better prognosis for the U.S. economy are making bonds from the emerging countries, from Turkey to Chile, seem less attractive. On Friday, currencies, bonds and shares in these markets fell significantly," noted an article in Wsj.com.
If we take into consideration which economies fared better in the crisis, we should seek trade partners in Asia and not in Europe.
Manuel Hinds analyzed El Salvador’s economy and exports, and his findings can be applied to the entire region. Costa Rica has already started the essential road to diversify its exports markets by closing Free Trade Agreements with China and Singapore.
Facing threats from the Venezuelan Government to suspend Colombian imports, entrepreneurs from this country are looking for alternative markets in Central America.
Access to the Ecuadorian market could also be restricted, if the political problem between Colombia, and Venezuela and Ecuador, deteriorates further.
×
ok
6931Government Procurement Opportunities in the region
español
6931
