BTM 2019 closes with export and diversification opportunities to Japan, Palestine and Portugal

The Buyers Trade Mission (BTM), the most important large-scale business matchmaking forum in the region, culminated its twenty-first edition with new export and diversification opportunities for the country offer. The potential expansion to international markets is possible thanks to over 5,000 business meetings between more than 300 international buyers and around 650 Costa Rican exporters.

The event, organized by the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promoter (PROCOMER), generated export opportunities in new markets including coffee to Palestine, fruits, such as watermelon, pineapple, papaya, melon and mango, to Portugal, snacks, sauces, artesian water, dried pineapple, jams, mead, craft beer, coffee, chocolates, coffee husks and personal care products to Japan, and much more.

“This year we shared the Costa Rica effect with international buyers from 39 different countries. The effect, or impact, a country can have when it invests in developing businesses with a purpose, businesses that seek economic growth hand in hand with social wellbeing and a balanced use of environmental resources,” noted Pedro Beirute Prada, General Manager at PROCOMER.   “We thank the participating exporters for their commitment to and trust in Costa Rica, and we congratulate those who, in this edition of the BTM, took their first steps towards internationalization, as well as those who found export potential to new destinations,” added Beirute.

“The quality and diversity of Costa Rica´s exportable offer has proven quite capable of conquering, year after year, new international markets, creating an impact on the country’s economic and social development,” boasted the Minister of Foreign Trade and President of the Board of Directors of PROCOMER. “Costa Rica builds on its image of excellence, every day, and the foreign trade sector is no exception. Our exporters clearly demonstrated how the export sector has grown and matured, hand in hand with PROCOMER,” she added.

The mission of buyers, held from September 17 to 19 at the Costa Rica Convention Center, represented an opportunity for growth for recurring participants and for those who barely add to the domestic export offer, such is the case of the Baby Banana Producers Association.

“The support provided by PROCOMER, throughout our internationalization process, has been excellent! We have been preparing for this for some time and our participation in the BTM is a sort of graduation for our company. Thanks to this joint effort we now have a series of certifications: including Carbon Neutral, essential COSTA RICA, FDA and Global GAP. These tools that help our products stand out among others to be considered as a purchase option in international markets,” explained Mary del Rocío Rodríguez, representative of the banana company.

According to Sonia Luna Pacheco, Coordinator of the Purchase Division in Latin America for the Spanish supermarket chain Mercadona, “The BTM also offers international buyers the opportunity to evaluate, first hand, the quality and diversity of Costa Rica’s offer”.

“The BTM is a very different event from what happens in the rest of the world. This isn´t just a bunch of companies promoting their products, PROCOMER does an excellent job of creating actual networking opportunities. The BTM allows us to meet many suppliers in a short time and make filters according to our needs; I invite everyone to come and participate, it is certainly a worthwhile experience”, added Pacheco.

To view an interactive map with all export opportunities, click here.