The International Business Matchmaking Forum takes place in Toronto, Canada, October 27 and 28 with 195 Colombian businesses exhibiting to 174 Canadian buyers.
According to Colombia’s tourism and trade promotion agency Proexport which organized the event with support from the Trade Facilitation Office Canada, the aim is to make the most of the free trade agreement which entered in to force August 15.
The President of Proexport, Maria Claudia Lacouture, said, “we have organized visits to potential buyers and large areas so that Colombian exporters can identify the characteristics of the products and really start to engage with clients.”
Daniel Velez Carvajal, one of the founders of Bombillo Amarillo, a Medellin-based animation company which is a forum exhibitor told Colombia Reports about the benefits of the free trade pact with Canada.
He said “The Colombia-Canada free trade agreement benefits our company, mainly because the software and the equipment required for the animation process we execute, will enter at lower prices. And in general because the flow of investment increases and there is more cooperation between the countries.
Velez Carvajal added “the Canadian professionals are more qualified than the Colombian professionals, so we will have to start training to reach this level.”
Colombian companies representing the agricultural and manufacturing sectors are present at the forum, as are companies which offer leather goods, textile manufacturing and services, digital content and software.