Colombia has overcome the negative economic impact generated by the political crisis with Venezuela, the Colombian Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism said on Sunday.
In an interview with the Spanish press agency EFE, the Colombian Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism, Sergio Diaz-Granados said that Colombia “has been prepared for a crisis with Venezuela and has overcome it”.
Diaz-Granados added that despite the fact that there was virtually no economic relationship between Colombia and Venezuela between April and June 2010, Colombia’s exports increased in the last 9 months.
The Colombian official reports that Colombia has succeeded to “buffer” the losses with the opening of other markets in Ecuador, Peru and Brazil.
“Colombia has adapted and part of the exports to Venezuela has been absorbed by markets in other countries,” the Colombian minister adds.
Diaz-Granados advocates to “move as quickly as possible” to sign a free trade agreement with the government of Hugo Chavez.
“Venezuela and Colombia are countries in solidarity with one of the busiest commercial border in Latin America”, Diaz-Granados added.
In 2008, the trade relations between the two countries reached 7,000 million dollars where Colombia was the largest exporter of manufactured goods to Venezuela.