During the 88th Coffee Summit, held in Cartagena, the Minister of Finance, Ricardo Bonilla confirmed that Colombia intends to belong to the Bank of the Brics. In that sense, the head of the portfolio highlighted that this is an organized way to reach Southeast Asia.
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This announcement comes at a time when the Colombian coffee industry is looking closely at the Chinese market as a potential importer of Colombian coffee. Well, last year alone the country’s grain exports grew close to 132%.
According to Bonilla, Colombia is already reaching this region of the world, but it is doing so in a disorganized and dispersed manner. For this, The proposal to advance the country’s integration into this Bank would be the way to solidify the initiatives.
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“We are looking to give you a solid policy. We cannot continue living from the idea that our commercial relationship is purely with the West.“said the head of the Treasury portfolio.
Now, in consultation with different international trade experts, this would be the Government’s way of diversifying the sources of financing for the country. In detail, Javier Díaz, president of the National Association of Foreign Trade (Analdex), He stressed that this measure does not necessarily mean entering the Brics group.
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“I think we can agree on the diversification of sources. Whether or not to belong to this block is a matter of discussion. Enter I think they are big words and should be discussed”, he indicated.
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For his part, if analyzed from the perspective of coffee, Gustavo Gómez, executive director of Asoexport, highlighted that currently non-traditional markets for Colombia, such as Asian ones, They are showing growth and the best example of this is China.
“Along these lines, being able to enter the Brics Bank, as announced by the Minister, is something that allows us to facilitate the processes so that these exports reach these international markets more easily.”, he noted.
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