Latin American countries need to work together to gain strength overseas
South America has many fairs devoted to the agricultural sector, mainly divided by country, which…South America has many fairs devoted to the agricultural sector, mainly divided by country, which bring together a number of producers and exporters of fruits and vegetables in order to promote the sale of their products. Ricardo Jaramillo, founder and CEO of the Colombian company Agrofuturo, has a broader view on what a fair in South America should cover and tells FreshPlaza about the scope of their project.
"We firmly believe that, by working together, all Latin American countries could have a stronger position in the foreign markets and be better prepared to negotiate. If we take into account that, in most cases, our agricultural productions complement each other, joining forces is the key. For example, avocado producers in any region can share their knowledge gained over the years with other growers of the same fruit to help them improve their productivity as a country and as a region. We are convinced that the world now needs open knowledge, where information must be shared to attract international investment and achieve connections with importers and exporters," affirms Ricardo Jaramillo.
This fair has been held for more than 10 years in Colombia, initially at a regional level, later becoming nationally recognised and now with an international scope. Expofuturo this year gathers more than 420 companies from 120 countries, gathering approximately 18,000 attendees. "We want to showcase Colombia's productive capacity, but also the potential of South America as a whole as a producer of fruits and vegetables. Within the fair, we have productive ecosystems that are divided into sections by topic and we offer many informative workshops. In previous years, we helped generate 650 million dollars' worth of business and this year we expect to exceed these figures," concludes the spokesperson of Agrofuturo.