Colombian trade promotion agency Proexport has been rebranded ProColombia and is stepping up efforts to promote the country’s products and services. The move follows a survey of foreign companies which found that the original name lacked any association with Colombia and therefore did not reflect the aims of the organisation.
A renaming ceremony was held at the end of November, during which Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos urged local businesses to “go out and conquer the global market”.
From now on, ProColombia will serve as an incubator for small and medium-sized businesses, helping local companies wishing to export their products and services. It will also place a greater focus on what it calls “quality products”.
Amongst the new schemes being set up by the agency is its Export Mentoring Programme, designed to bring together local companies with their foreign counterparts so they can learn the tools of the trade.
A key focus will be on promoting the country’s tourism industry, which last year attracted a record 3.7m people and aims to bring in US$6bn in foreign exchange revenue by 2018.
