Venezuela and Colombia Hold Major Business Conference

One year after the opening of their borders, Venezuela and Colombia are holding a Binational Business Macro-Roundtable in Caracas that will last until Friday, September 29. More than 600 companies from both nations will join the meeting at the Tamanaco Hotel, located in the state of Miranda.

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The opening ceremony was in charge of the Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, the Minister of Commerce of Colombia, Germán Umaña, and the President of the Development Bank of Latin America CAF, Sergio Díaz-Granados.

During her speech, the Vice president said that a historic number of companies had registered for the event, which seeks to generate opportunities for commercial rapprochement between Colombia and Venezuela in different strategic sectors.

Rodriguez also highlighted the positive indices in terms of exports that have been registered after the opening of borders. In this sense, she indicated that requests for certificates of origin from Venezuelan companies, necessary for the export of products, increased by 73.7%. 

The occasion constitutes a space for dialogue for the two South American countries, the Vice president said, noting that "this bi-national macro-roundtable is the space for us to get to know each other better, to see how we can complement export products."

The tweet reads, "Opening ceremony of the Binational Macrorrueda Venezuela - Colombia 2023 at the Tamanaco Hotel, in charge of the Vice President of the Republic, Delcy Rodríguez; Germán Umaña, Minister of @Mincomercioco; and Sergio Díaz-Granados, Executive President of @AgendaCAF."

For his part, the Minister of Commerce, said that "trade is part of the possibilities of complementing integration." Umaña added, "We have learned that nothing separates us, but that everything unites us. Venezuelans and Colombians and businessmen have made this future."

The event will be running until September 29. On Thursday and Friday, business rounds will be held where 100 negotiation tables per day are registered. 

The sectors that will participate in this macro roundtable belong to the areas of base metal products; food, beverages and alcohol; machinery, mechanical and electrical appliances; chemical products; petroleum and its derivatives; metalliferous and non-metalliferous minerals. 

This event celebrates the first anniversary of the reopening of the borders between Colombia and Venezuela after the reestablishment of bilateral relations with the arrival of Gustavo Petro to the presidency.

The two nations remained, from the beginning of 2019 until last September 26, with a break in political, diplomatic and commercial relations. Official border crossings between both countries remained closed.