CAF finances Andean Entrepreneurial Forum IV

CAF granted today to Venezuela’s Ministry of Production and Commerce (MPC) a $300,000 non-reimbursable technical cooperation aimed at financing in part the Andean Entrepreneurial Forum IV, to be held in Maracaibo this month, May 22-24. The event is being organized by the MPC and Bancoex.

The technical cooperation agreement was signed by the minister of Production and Commerce, Luisa Romero, and CAF’s executive president, Enrique García. García pointed out that the grant is consistent with the catalytic role that CAF plays in attracting loans, investments, and business opportunities to the Andean region.

The Entrepreneurial Forum IV, whose motto is “Let us Advance...An Intelligent Union for Development”, will take place in Maracaibo’s convention center, the Palacio de Eventos, with participation from all the economic sectors involved in commercial activities in the five countries of the Andean Community: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. The Forum’s aim is to consolidate and to expand commercial ties and to establish strategic alliances among Andean businessmen, as well as to contribute to the strengthening of the region’s enterprises, helping them to take part more effectively in international trade.

The centerpiece of the Forum will be a Business Encounter, aimed at arranging inter-business meetings on the basis of supply and demand for goods, services, and investments. These business meetings would seek to create new flows in trade and investment, as well as to consolidate existing ones.

It is expected that the Business Encounter will attract the participation of about one thousand businessmen from the Andean region. Also, many firms will have commercial exhibits on display, grouped by country, and panels will be organized to develop specialized topics to promote debates among participants.

Entrepreneurial Forums originated with a mandate of the Andean Presidential Council X held in Guayaquil, Ecuador, in 1998. The Forums aim to provide opportunities to the countries of the Andean Community to hold open business encounters in support of sectors in which the member countries show competitive advantage and provide economic complementarity.

Three Entrepreneurial Forums have been held to date, one each in Cartagena, Colombia; Santa Cruz, Bolivia; and Lima, Peru. All three were beneficiaries of financial support from CAF.