Venezuela has paid off its debts to the Colombian dairy cooperative Colanta and has renewed its dairy import with eight tons of powdered milk.
Venezuela paid off its outstanding debt of $12 million owed to the massive Colombian dairy cooperative from the central northwestern Antioquia department, renewing business relations with the company.
The Colombian Colanta’s first export to their neighbouring country was $34 million worth of powdered milk, reported newscast CM&.
“President Chavez has always been a friend of Colanta and for political reasons went and bought a lot of milk from Argentina…Today they gave me the good news that they [Venezuela] would buy 8,000 tons of milk powder from us,” claimed Colanta’s manager, Jenaro Pérez.
According to the Euromoney Institutional Investor website, the Colanta cooperative consists of over 10,000 farmers and has over 4,500 employees associated with the entity. CM& also reported that four months ago Colanta implemented a Free Trade Agreement with the U.S. which simultaneously augmented its exports by 30% and eliminated customs duties for the company.
Between Venezuela’s renewed ties and the recent FTA with the U.S., Colanta looks to continue improving in its milk and cheese exports.