A business delegation from Colombia, consisting of economic activists and producers of the coffee industry, met and consulted with a group of private sector activists in the Isfahan Chamber of Commerce.
Asghar Akhavanmoghadam head of the commission for development and improvement of the business environment and a member of the Chamber of Commerce Representatives, said in this meeting:
“We suggest that a center be formed in the Chambers of Commerce of Isfahan and Colombia as a platform to study the commercial potentials of the fields such as the export of meat, coffee and handicrafts. Also, active companies of the two countries should be introduced in these fields to start their cooperation by introducing representatives”.
He further added: The path of export should be facilitated and, from now on, such problems as banking issues, licenses and standard rules should be planned and table the relevant solutions. After establishing mutual understanding between the Iranian and Colombian sides, we suggest that the Colombian side visit Iran and Isfahan.
Although there were good areas of cooperation with other countries in the past. But as a proper framework for cooperation had not been proposed, no expected results were gained. Therefore, it is very important to define a correct framework before starting any cooperation.
Ahmed Seifi, the economic expert of the Isfahan representative office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also stated:" The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is present and supports wherever necessary for the development of economic diplomacy based on its organizational duty.
The presence of the Colombian trade delegation in this meeting and the trip to Isfahan was the result of the consultations of the Iranian Ambassador in Colombia, and we hope that the result of this trip will be the expansion of trade between Colombia and Iran, especially Isfahan.
Saeed Ghorbani, director of international relations of Isfahan International Exhibition, also stated: As we hosted the Colombian delegation at the exhibition, they mentioned that prior to the trip, they did not imagine that such capacities existed in Isfahan, and they declared their full readiness to expand trade with this region.
We are confident that if there is synergy between all managers and officials, next year we will see the presence of many Colombian companies in Isfahan exhibitions.
Saeed Ebrahimi, Director of International Marketing and Relations of Isfahan Chamber of Commerce, also stated in that, in the past days, Isfahan hosted a coffee exhibition and the Colombian delegation had come to Isfahan for this purpose. In recent years, the consumption of coffee in Isfahan and in the country has increased a lot, and now there are two or three coffee shops on every street in Isfahan. The Colombian attendance at the exhibition could provide the basis for trade between Isfahan and Colombia.
Last year, nearly $100 million worth of coffee was imported into the country, and Colombia's share was only $230,000. This means that Colombian coffee beans are imported to neighboring countries and then exported to Isfahan.
Today, we hope that direct bilateral communication will be established between the economic actors of Isfahan and Colombia so that we can benefit from the benefits of direct trade.
Marlon Cantillo, the head of the Colombian trade delegation, also said in this meeting:" Most of the members of this delegation are traveling to Isfahan for the first time and now, after seeing the capacities of Isfahan, they have high expectations for business relations with this industrial city. Together with the ambassador of Iran in Colombia, we have done many activities to improve cultural and economic relations between the two countries.
The first result of these actions was that we now have very high expectations from Isfahan, because we got to know the activities and capacities of this city, and it made us put some urgent plans to expand cooperation.
He further added:" We had very useful and good meetings with businessmen and economic activists at the Isfahan International Coffee Exhibition, which we hope will lead to the expansion of cooperation between the two sides.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia is also very interested in expanding economic and cultural cooperation between the two countries.