SIECA–Central American Secretariat for Economic Integration
Panel session ‘SIECA–Central American Secretariat for Economic Integration’ was held at the recent International Forum ‘Strengthening international SMEs alliances between the Russian Federation and Latin America and the Caribbean’.
Session participants represented their countries, speaking about the state of their economies, their economic potentials and the speakers’ vision of enhancing mutually beneficial cooperation with Russia.
Guatemala was represented by Ms. Aida Fernández, Manager of the Manufacture Division of the Guatemalan Association of Exporters. She remarked that Guatemala currently has no specialized government body for export, but it is ready to internationalize small and medium-sizes businesses and expand the spectrum of products and markets.
Ms. Vilma Sierra, Executive President at Honduras Sí Exporta, spoke about the possibilities of Honduras. Honduras is a country that is a free trade zone, offering its territory as a platform for export to other countries and as a transport corridor from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.
Costa Rica was represented by Mr. Erick Ulate, Deputy Director Export at PROCOMER (Foreign Trade Corporation of Costa Rica). Costa Rica, a “neutral country without armed forces”, is committed to developing the economy of knowledge; it is planning to assist Russia with accessing its internal market.
Ms. Gonzalina Patricia Ulloa González, General Manager of Export and Investment Center (CEI), spoke about the ‘Russian profile’ that was established in Nicaragua with the aim of informing companies wishing to export their products to Russia and seeking partners.
A presentation about the export possibilities of El Salvador was delivered by Mr. Sigfrido Reyes, President of the Export and Investment Promotion Agency of El Salvador (PROESA).
Dr. Eugenia Soboleva, an International Expert at UNIDO, was the moderator of the discussion.
The participants believe that the implementation of plans to bolster cooperation with Russia requires strategic unions to be established for developing integrative processes.
All SIECA countries are interested in cooperation in areas such as agriculture (organic and flavoured coffee, tobacco, sugar and alcohol), tourism (including medical tourism), fishing, machine building, chemical and electronic industry and energy development (including alternative sources of energy).
Discussion participants expressed a common opinion that continuous exchange of information with stakeholders in Russia must be established, databases on the markets of SIECA and Russia must be set up, and information on authorities facilitating mutual trade turnover must be prepared so that mutually beneficial cooperation could improve.
Background information
Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration (SIECA) is an economic, cultural and political organisation of Central American countries. The free trade zone in the region was established in 1991. There are eight full members: Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Belize and the Dominican Republic. The organization was established predominantly for solving the problems of economic cooperation. However, now it also handles political problems and issues of education, culture and environmental protection.
