Andean biotrade initiative launched in Johannesburg

The World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg is producing concrete results for the Andean countries. One of them is the start of the Andean Biotrade Program (BIOTRADE), a joint initiative by the CAF, the Andean Community and UNCTAD.

The CAF executive president, Enrique García, signed on September 1 an agreement with these organizations to implement the program whose aim is to promote trade and investment in products and services based on the Andean region’s immense biodiversity. The launch ceremony for the BIOTRADE initiative took place in the presence of Rubens Ricupero, UNCTAD secretary general, and Jorge Valdés, principal adviser to the Andean Community General Secretariat. Also present were the environment ministers and high-level authorities responsible for sustainable development from the Andean region and senior representatives from Latin American and European countries.

At the launch ceremony, the CAF president said the initiative would help Andean countries to exploit their biological wealth more efficiently and sustainably. Promotion of the production of goods and services based on the sustainable exploitation of natural resources is an opportunity for increasing income and employment in a broad sector of the region’s population, he added.

Another objective of the BIOTRADE program is to support the Andean Biodiversity Strategy and the national biotrade programs under way in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. The program is also committed to the creation and development of biodiversity markets consistent with the sustainable use of resources, and the building of institutional and technical capacity for the introduction and adaptation of new technologies for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

A very important objective of the initiative is to leverage financial resources in an effort to make bio-business projects viable in the Andean region. The ceremony was also attended by representatives of investment funds and donor countries, who warmly welcomed the possibilities opened up by this program.

Also at the launch, the CAF, UNCTAD and World Resource International (WRI) presented their alliance for "New Ventures," a competition for the best initiatives for generating new investment projects related to the sustainable use of biological resources.

UNCTAD also announced the implementation of a Trade Facilitation Program for the Biodiverse Products and Services of developing countries. The idea focuses on creation and development of the markets of the industrialized countries and complements the BIOTRADE program.