The Export Promotion Agency works to strengthen and enhance trade promotion tools through different programs that drive the internationalization of Cordobese small- and medium-sized enterprises.
Every year, the Trade Promotion Department plans, coordinates and executes a calendar of events that includes activities for which financial and logistic support is offered to companies wishing to participate in national and international fairs and exhibitions for different productive sectors. The calendar also includes trade missions to strategic destinations and business rounds with potential importers.
With the help of these tools offered by ProCórdoba Agency, the local companies can strengthen their foreign trade departments or start the road to internationalization.
Such is the case of Aquamar, a firm which, thanks to its participation in FICAD (the International Construction, Architecture and Real Estate Fair in Santa Cruz de la Sierra), was able to conduct its first export to the Bolivian market. Aquamar is a brand of Laboratorio Labza SRL. It has been in the pharmaceutical sector for almost 30 years. Commercial Representative David Salazar explained,
We truly are an SME. All my family is involved in the management of the company, in all the branches of Laboratorio Labza: agri-products, animal care and water treatment. The only brand we are exporting is Aquamar."
As regards ProCórdoba, he said,
ProCórdoba's support was not complicated at all! We contacted the Agency via email and addressed a couple of queries via WhatsApp. It was simple to participate in fairs and ProCórdoba's missions, which sounds strange. You'd say ‘I'm not made for this; I have to focus on the local market first', but it turns out things are not quite like that. As you get more and more into the world of export, you realize there is nothing strange about it."
At FICAD, the company participated in business rounds with its Bolivian counterparts. It was these meetings that led to the first export of its innovative product: a crack sealant for all kinds of pools.
Three years ago we broke ground with a new product thereto unheard of in the market. You simply pour it in a water-filled pool; you don't need to know where the crack is. You pour it in, and the product finds its way to the crack and seals it. Since the sealant is biodegradable, the water is not compromised. So a process that would normally take 30 days can be done in 3 days with our product, and it costs 10% of the traditional repair methods," explained Zalazar.
After FICAD, Aquamar participated in the multi-sector trade mission to Paraguay, where the results were once again very positive. The firm sent product samples to a potential importer, and now they are on the verge of closing deals.
Aquamar's representative talked about the missions:
The missions to Bolivia and Paraguay were very different than others thanks to ProCórdoba's assistance. You have the support of the Embassy, and you meet the companies there. Business rounds are given importance... It's definitely different from knocking on doors by yourself."
The missions are highly enriching. A company's first commercial experience abroad is without waste. It's mind-opening. If we hadn't closed deals with Bolivia, the mission would have still been fruitful because of the experience it gave us, because we met other firms which were in the same situation or which had a greater experience," finished David Salazar.
ProCórdoba's calendar includes over 100 events each year, such as national and international fairs, trade and exploratory missions, and many others. To see the full calendar, go to www.procordoba.org.
