During virtual event, 600 companies from Latin America and the Caribbean generate trade intentions worth USD 24 million

9 November 2023 (IICA). The eighth edition of the Virtual Business Roundtable of the Agrifood Chains featured the participation of 589 companies from different countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and resulted in trade intentions in the amount of USD 23.8 million. 
 
During the virtual event, buyers and sellers, including 315 companies from Central America, 200 from South America and 74 from North America and the Caribbean, held meetings and networked.  
 
As with the earlier editions, the event was the result of the close collaboration between the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Executive Secretariat of the Central American Agricultural Council (SE-CAC) and the Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration (SIECA), which together have been organizing business roundtables since 2020 as a space to promote trade and strengthen the regional agrifood sector.

More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int

On this occasion, buyers and sellers of all sizes from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela attended the event.
 
Each in development of their own agendas, the different companies expanded their network through the facilitation of an opportunity to do business and diversify their markets. 
 
The products that were offered the most during the event included fruits and vegetables, followed by coffee and cacao, food preparations, honey, natural fruit juices, salsas and condiments.  

Additionally, the most represented services were customs and foreign trade consulting, in addition to transportation and logistics; while the most demanded products and services were fruits and vegetables, inputs and machinery and equipment. 
It is worth noting that 36% of the participating companies were led by women and 41% were managed or owned by people under the age of 40.
 
Since 2020, a total of 4,421 companies from different Latin American countries have participated in the eight editions of the Virtual Business Roundtable, resulting in total trade intentions of USD 197.7 million. 
 
Edith Flores de Molina, Director of SIECA’s Center for Studies on Economic Integration (CEIE), expressed that, “For SIECA it is very important to join forces and to partner with institutions like IICA, FAO and SE-CAC, which—like SIECA—are committed to developing and promoting the agrifood sector; to strengthening the capacities of companies that produce, sell and offer services to this sector; and to generating spaces for trade promotion. We have proven that virtual business meetings contribute to trade facilitation, offering big opportunities to do business and network with companies located in different countries, and so we will continue working to promote this type of activity and project aimed at contributing to the development of the population and the positioning of our products and services in international markets”.
 
Daniel Rodríguez, Manager of IICA’s International Trade and Regional Integration Program, stated that the Business Roundtables of the Agrifood Chains of Latin America and the Caribbean have become a space to strengthen ties between the countries in the region. 
 
“In this edition, over 19 countries participated, representing all of the regions of Latin America and the Caribbean. We hope that this diversity of destinations will help companies and producer organizations to consolidate and diversify their presence in regional markets, thus contributing to strengthening intraregional trade and food and nutrition security in our countries”, he commented. 
 
Pablo Rabczuk, Trade & Agrifood Systems Officer at FAO, pointed to the importance of the Virtual Business Roundtables of the Agrifood Chains as trade platforms that bring together buyers and sellers from Latin America and the Caribbean, given that they contribute to strengthening and diversifying the export market of companies and family farming organizations in the region. 
 
He also underscored FAO’s commitment to driving the resilience of the agrifood sector, as well as inclusion: “The participation of family farming enterprises in the Virtual Business Roundtables has increased by 15% over last year, as have the number of Latin American enterprises run by young people, which have shown a steady increase. These actions undoubtedly contribute to the transformation of the agrifood systems”, he said. 
 
Lucrecia Rodríguez, Executive Secretary of CAC, noted that the Virtual Business Roundtables of the Agrifood Chains are a space for SMEs and family farming organizations to establish contact with potential strategic partners, customers or suppliers and to learn trade facilitation processes—all of this at the click of a button to diversity and expand their presence in other regional or international markets. 
 
In this way, the different organizations are working together to promote the development of business networks for the agrifood sector of Latin America and the Caribbean, while also digitalizing trade promotion activities.

More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int