What do you know about Colombian exports besides coffee, bananas, oil and flowers?

Did you know that Colombian exports go up to more than 240 products of all kinds and that if we were to give the necessary impulse by the productive chain, these items could be leading players in many parts of the world?

Construction finishes, plastic, avocado, metal ore waste and scrap, cows, cosmetics, costume jewelry, herbicides, personal care products and even sugar confectionery take to the skies or sail from Colombian ports to other countries.

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However, Colombian production that reaches the world still needs more impetus.

According to figures from the National Association of Foreign Trade (Analdex), there are 10,000 companies in Colombia that produce these kinds of products, goods and services, and only 16 of these account for 53% of national exports.

Against this backdrop, Analdex highlights the importance of encouraging and accompanying the export processes of companies that have not been able to reach international markets, a crucial issue for the country to be an important player with goods other than mining and energy in the global arena.

Colombian exports

But, is Colombia an exporting country? For Carmen Caballero, president of ProColombia, the answer is a resounding yes.

“From our mission at ProColombia and under the leadership of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, we connect the supply of Colombian regions with international demand, all under the umbrella of sustainability”, says Caballero.

He also indicates that ProColombia’s five pillars to boost our country’s exports of non-mining products abroad are summarized in the promotion of MSMEs; more territories that contribute to non-mining energy exports (with special emphasis on Pdet areas -Programa de Desarrollo con Enfoque Territorial- and in municipalities with less than 200,000 inhabitants); more sales to Latin America and the Caribbean; more sales to the United States and the Caribbean; more sales to Latin America and the Caribbean; more sales to the United States and the Caribbean; more sales to the United States and the Caribbean; more sales to Latin America and the Caribbean; and more sales to the United States. 000 inhabitants); more sales to Latin America and the Caribbean; more goods and services with added value abroad; and support for economic units of differential populations such as ethnic groups, women, youth, LGBTIQ+, indigenous people and victims of the armed conflict.

In contrast to these statements, Javier Diaz, president of Analdex, says that Colombia is not characterized as an exporting country. “We should be invoicing more than USD $100 billion, but we only sell USD $60 billion, which means that what Colombia exports is only half of it”.

And then, the question arises: How to grow? Díaz of Analdex says that “for Colombia to be an exporting country, there are three important challenges to overcome gaps in many Colombian companies that want to export their products: improving logistics, modernizing customs and betting on the digitization of the chains”.

The trade union executive analyzed the behavior of the non-traditional export basket in Colombia and said that the country continues with a very high dependence on mining and energy products, oil, coal, ferronickel and gold, because they make up about 50% of foreign sales.

This is due to the opening of the economy, trade and capital, accompanied by the mining and energy boom, explains Javier Diaz. However, the country is committed to diversify this bonanza and the supply of exotic fruits such as uchuva, gulupa and avocado is beginning to emerge.

In this regard, Carmen Caballero of ProColombia emphasizes that “the vision of President Gustavo Petro, set out in the National Development Plan and in the policies led by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, is to evolve from an extractivist economy towards a decarbonized, inclusive, sustainable and knowledge-based production model, to internationalize the productive apparatus and the regions”.

The financial sector with companies such as Bancóldex has implemented different strategies to support the internationalization of Colombian companies, position a diversified value offer and reach new markets abroad.

“We have developed a portfolio of financial products and business strengthening services aimed at supporting internationalization processes in all their stages with financing, products to manage the risks inherent to foreign trade operations, such as credit and foreign exchange risks, and finally, training resources, specialized technical assistance and valuable connections with other entrepreneurs”, Bancóldex assures.

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Colombia exports and the need to open markets: Procolombia

One of ProColombia’s objectives is to bring international demand closer to the Colombian offer, for that they have several tools available to all entrepreneurs interested in internationalizing their companies and highlight Colombian exports.

“This year we have trained more than 12,900 Colombians from 27 departments on foreign trade issues and, as a result of ProColombia’s accompaniment, 1,715 companies from 137 municipalities in 22 departments reported export business of non-mining goods and services for USD $1,945 million with 3,362 buyers from 113 countries. Seventy-seven percent of these companies are MSMEs”, comments Carmen Caballero.

For example, there are several cases of companies in the territories to mention, such as Agrícola La Esmeralda, a micro-enterprise from Palermo (Huila), which has a sustainable, fair trade and environmental care proposal, which, thanks to ProColombia’s Internationalization Factories Program, achieved its first coffee export to Argentina.

There is also Andry Montes Accesorios, from Valledupar (Cesar), a microenterprise led by women that has been preparing for its internationalization process by investing in the improvement of production processes, innovation and development since before entering the program.

With this progress, Andry Montes Accesorios showed great interest in learning how to structure its international sales in an operational manner and has just achieved its first export to Ecuador.

Colombian exporter Montana Fruits Fresh Produce is satisfied with the strong demand for gulupa in the market, especially in Europe.

According to Natalia Moranth, co-owner of the company, they have experienced a steady growth rate of approximately 30% since the company was founded.

Montana also exports avocados from Colombia and its management is determined to overcome competition from other major supplying countries.

Finally, and as a case in point, Servicios Deshidratados Zagos, from Palmira (Valle del Cauca) is developing a line of dehydrated agricultural products such as spices, sauces, and various vegetables, and is exporting dehydrated chili peppers to the United States.

It is worth noting that according to figures provided by the DANE, agricultural products, food and beverages exported by Colombia in the first half of this year amounted to USD $5,170.6 million and showed a decrease of 15.4% compared to the same period of 2022.

Likewise, external sales of the manufacturing group were USD $5,045.3 million and registered a decrease of 2.1% compared to the period from January to June 2022.

Therefore, companies that are thinking of exporting, in addition to incorporating sustainability as a necessary practice within their production systems, must be aware of and comply with the regulatory framework established by the different governments in the world.

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