The sales of Colombian meat to China, one of the largest growth markets in Asia, are months away from being licensed. This was pointed out to Portafolio by the country’s ambassador in Beijing, Luis Monsalve.
(Read: 8% of payments in Venezuela are in Colombian pesos).
Specifically, only one last inspection by the Chinese authorities remains, which has been delayed for the last two years, according to the Colombian diplomat.
“There is another Colombian product that we have had ready for almost two years but also the covid-19 has not allowed the cycle to be completed and that is beef, which has a great possibility (…) Colombian refrigerators, some Brazilian-owned, who are already experienced and ready for a long timeMonsalve commented.
Regarding the case, the Colombian ambassador pointed out that “there is a lack of a visit from some Chinese inspectors who at this moment do not come out, they are afraid, but when it is carried out, which could happen in this second semester, Colombian meat can already be exported to China. . There is a huge market.”
This export, which has been in the works for several years, will be beef and porkaccording to what was advanced by the diplomat.
Ambassador Luis Monsalve also referred to the fact that the Asian giant offers “great opportunities” to the country in key sectors where the Chinese middle class, with good purchasing power, can contribute to increasing thes non-mining-energy exports from Colombia. In the case of coffee and tropical fruits, although progress has been made, Ambassador Monsalve explained that increasing their exports could be of great benefit to the country given the projected growth of the aforementioned Asian middle class.
“If in the future there is a market that represents great opportunities for our agricultural and rural productive sector, it is China. It is a country that continues to grow and although it has good agricultural production, it is not enough”, said the ambassador.
For this, he maintains, in the future, in the remote regions of Colombia, “where we have problems, we will be able to replace illicit crops with products such as tropical fruits, including expanding coffee (…) If there is a large and growing market, it is here in China, although it is not an issue that can be achieved overnight”.
Flowers, products such as chocolates and tourism are other products with potential to enter this Chinese market.
(Besides: Colombia exported US$6.5 million of Uchuva in two months).
diplomatic relations
When he arrived in 2019, Monsalve had a key task: to strengthen Colombia’s trade relations with China. Today, three years later, as a balance of his management, Colombia can maintain that it is in the best moment of the bilateral relations with the Asian giant.
“Relations are at their best historical moment; they are of respect, of coincidence in multilateral issues and of understanding that we are very complementary countries, for example, Colombia, in economic investment issues, which has been developing in recent years”, said Monsalve, who in a few weeks leaves The charge.
“In a very pragmatic way, understanding that the political system is different and that we are key allies of the United States, we can continue to have a favorable relationship with China, which is very convenient for us,” said Monsalve, who believes that the country has had a hard time understanding it and that the new Colombian government must understand.
ROBERTO CASAS LUGO
