The city of San Francisco, Córdoba, hosted “Ferretera 2017” (Hardware 2017), this year’s International Business Round for the Hardware, Machinery, Tools, and Building Materials industries. The event was organized by ProCórdoba Agency in collaboration with the Chamber of Foreign Trade of San Francisco and the Federal Council of Investments (in Spanish, CFI), with the support of the Government of the Province of Santa Fe.

This 11th event, Ferretera 2017, welcomed ten operators from Bolivia, Chile, El Salvador, Peru, Panama and Paraguay, who participated in the business round, allowing for a total 200 commercial meetings. In addition, the foreign visitors carried out technical visits to local plants and a tour around “MetalExpo”, an exhibit for the metallurgical industry.

During the opening ceremony of the round, President Claudio Dussin of the Chamber of Foreign Trade of San Francisco and the Region, thanked the visitors for being there and welcomed foreign operators: “We wish for this encounter to promote the trade of local products and to make us aware of business opportunities existing both for importers and exporters.”

Maribel León, a representative of the Peruvian company Masiljo, shared her expectations for this mission:

"I believe there’s a very good chance to close deals. I’ve been surprised by the size of the industry and the quality of the products offered. I have found two or three interesting proposals that I must now analyze. The business options with these companies are really great.”

For his part, Máximo Trejos, a representative of the Panamanian company Yasiel, was pleasantly surprised with the quality and diversity of the region’s products:

I return home with a very good impression of the products manufactured here. We will add a few customers to our vendor list, and I will try to contact the rest with other companies from Panamá. I am committed to promoting the companies of San Francisco in my country. I know some of these products will be of great interest back there.”

Alejandro Gonzalez of Proveeduría Industrial, Bolivia, on the other hand, talked about the round and its results:

There definitely exist business opportunities. This has been the seed. You establish a relationship and then the idea to make it formal grows in your head. This is the starting point for closing deals.”

ProCórdoba Agency, together with the Chamber of Foreign Trade of San Francisco and the Federal Council of Investments, as well as the Government of the Province of Santa Fe, would like to thank all international operators for their participation and the local companies for their hospitality and their attendance to the arranged meetings.