Businessmen, industry associations and governments of Colombia and Venezuela strengthen channels to consolidate relations

With the purpose of reestablishing dialogue and reopening the channels that ensure fluid trade, economic and diplomatic relations between Colombia and Venezuela, the “Colombian-Venezuelan Governmental, Industry and Business Meeting” will be held on December 16 in Bogotá.

This dialogue will be arranged into five thematic groups made up of representatives of the governments of both countries, businessmen and industry association leaders from both sides of the border.

The groups will discuss topics such as: productive chains, integration and physical infrastructure at the border, energy transition towards sustainable development, sustainable tourism, and agricultural and agro-industrial cooperation and development.

The working groups will be moderated by CAF—development bank of Latin America—, and will feature delegates from the governments of Colombia and Venezuela, as well as industry association leaders and businessmen invited for this occasion.

The meeting is organized by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism and CAF, and will take place at the Ágora Convention Center.

It will feature Colombian Ministers of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Germán Umaña Mendoza; of Agriculture, Cecilia López; of Mines and Energy, Irene Vélez; of Environment, Susana Muhamad, and of Transport, Guillermo Reyes.

The Government of Venezuela will be represented by the Ministers of Industry, Hipólito Abreu; of Tourism, Alí Ernesto Padrón; of Transport, Ramón Celestino Velásquez, and of Agriculture, William Castro Soteldo, as well as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment Promotion, Johann Álvarez.

The public opening session of the event is scheduled to run from 9:00 a.m. to 9:45 a.m., and will be moderated by CAF President Sergio Díaz-Granados and two of the attending ministers, one from each country.

Subsequently, and in private sessions, attendees will work on the thematic groups until 4:00 p.m. Thereafter, a public closing ceremony will be held, to discuss with the conclusions of each group.

Noteworthy is that this is a dialogue, and not a decision-making instance.

Trade with Venezuela 

Between January and September, trade between the two countries (exports plus imports) reached USD 515.5 million, which translates into a 91% increase compared to the same period of 2021.

However, the latest export data is updated as of October and indicates that Colombia’s sales to Venezuela reached USD 512.9 million in the same 10 months, a 102.5% surge compared to the same period in 2021. Of this figure, USD 491.4 million were non-mining energy goods, whose sales rose 105%.