Ecuadorean trade promotion body Pro Ecuador hosted a dinner at London’s Corinthia Hotel on Monday to showcase a range of the country’s fresh produce and gastronomy. Members of the specialised press were invited to a meal cooked live by Ecuadorean chef David Reyes using fresh ingredients from Ecuador.
Pro Ecuador was set up in 2011 to promote Ecuadorean exports and attract foreign direct investment into the country. Today it has 33 trade offices around the world, the latest of which opened in Dubai in May. The body is spearheading industry efforts to increase exports of non-traditional fruits and vegetables. Broccoli is one of the products that has seen the biggest export growth in recent years. The US is the biggest market, followed by Japan and Germany.
“Ecuador is not just a great place for trade and investment because of its strategic location; it has also undergone significant political and economic transformations in the last decade, which has led to one of the highest growth rates among Latin American economies, with GDP growth of 5.1 per cent in 2012,” said a Juan Diego Stacey, Pro Ecuador’s UK trade commissioner, pictured second left with (from left to right) Ecuadorean chef David Reyes Prieto, Jessica Bermúdez de Colmont of Pro Ecuador and Juan Falconí Puig, the Ecuadorean ambassador to London.
Fruit and vegetable exports are forecast to rise by 8 per cent and 5 per cent respectively in 2013, while banana exports are set to grow by 10 per cent. Stacey said alongside significant improvements in transport and infrastructure, government efforts to raise productivity were beginning to pay off.
