Agreement signed with Colombian ACOPLASTICOS association

The Andean Development Corporation (CAF) and the ACOPLASTICOS association signed on September 28 in Bogota a technical cooperation agreement for US$93,331 to partially finance the project Logistics and Information Systems in the Petrochemicals, Plastics, Tires, Paints, Dyes and Fibers Chain in Colombia.

The project aims to strengthen one of the most important chains of the Colombian productive base, identified as priority by the National Agency for Competitiveness and Productivity, through activities to improve the company logistics, the flow of information relevant to the sector, and the coordination and cooperation between the companies involved in the project. The agreement will also stimulate local and foreign investment, and allow the chain to take advantage of the opportunities generated by the integration processes in which Colombia is participating.

CAF President & CEO Enrique Garcia emphasized the importance of this agreement as a contribution by the multilateral institution to the Colombian government’s efforts to optimize the competitive performance of companies and achieve the objectives set out in the Strategic Exporter Plan, whose objective is to improve productive conditions in the country with a view to participation in international markets.

The CAF funds are expected to contribute to the success of this project, which will seek out and develop sustainable strategies for the chain in the medium and long term, in the areas of technical assistance and applied research, industrial development and innovation, and formation of human capital, achieving positive impacts on the economic and social conditions of the country.

The ACOPLASTICOS association represents the productive chain of petrochemicals, plastics, tires, paints, dyes and synthetic and artificial fibers, which groups about 1,100 companies (mostly in the category of small and medium-sized enterprise) representing 15% of the country’s industrial establishment. The association employs directly 87,000 workers (16.2% of jobs in the national manufacturing industry), exports over US$1.50 billion and has an 18% share of total electricity consumed by the manufacturing industry in Colombia. The chain covers over 20 chapters of the customs tariff, including raw materials, inputs, intermediate and finished projects. It has a very high influence in the other chains in the Colombian productive base.