Santa Fe Business Forum, a meeting organised by the Government of the Province that seeks to promote trade and international investment, continues this Wednesday in the city of Rosario. Representatives of almost a thousand companies -mostly from the province and the region-, more than 200 buyers from 40 countries and 32 ambassadors are taking part in the activity, which will last until Thursday at La Fluvial. There will be an international business round, an investment promotion forum, and an auditorium for presentations, training and education. In addition, representatives of foreign firms can meet companies from the region.
In this context, the Minister of Productive Development, Gustavo Puccini, highlighted the fact that Rosario "is once again hosting events in this city that offers everything. There is a government committed to facilitating these conversations to be held for a long time because they give us the possibility of generating work, added value and roots in many of our cities". At the same time, Puccini pointed out that on the first day of the event "more than 700 business rounds were held and today more than 250 meetings are continuing within the Investment Forum".
In addition, the head of the Productive Development portfolio acknowledged the presence of "many entrepreneurs who want to enter the foreign market, an important part of growing and bringing jobs. We have examples that when our companies manage to enter the international market they generate foreign currency for the province and generate a sale that gives stability to the SME outside the national ups and downs". For this reason, he stressed that "foreign demand is very strong, demanding, you have to enter with price and quality. And in a difficult context in our country, Santa Fe offers talent and human resources. In this respect, this is an innovative and challenging bet. Here we are putting Santa Fe in dialogue with the world and the world is coming to Santa Fe because we have a lot to offer.
Doing business
Cayetano Cuesta, head of logistics for Coomans Trade from Belgium, said he was surprised because "during the rounds we were able to meet producers we didn't know before and there are significant opportunities to do business", and he also considered the organisation and staging of the Santa Fe Business Forum to be "very positive".
Cuesta acknowledged that it was his first time in Argentina and that "I had read comments in the past about Rosario that were not very positive, but I saw a massive police presence, in European standard, so at no time did I feel unsafe".
Later, Rosa La Spisa of Sogiros SA, representing companies from Italy, assured that "in the Santa Fe Business Forum there is a very high professional level, so we will surely do a very good job" and added, like her colleague from Belgium, that "what you hear outside the city of Rosario is not what I experienced here in terms of security. We didn't feel unsafe, we walked the streets without fear, the people of the city gave us a lot of confidence, so we took away a positive impression.
Santa Fe with an unequalled offer
In addition, Mario Mendoza, representative of Cormac Bolivia and buyers from that country said: "We have had a relationship with the province of Santa Fe for more than 40 years where we have participated in several business rounds in which we have bought a lot of different types of equipment and machinery. Santa Fe offers an unrivalled offer for the sector where we operate. That is why we consider this event very big and fantastic".
He also remarked that "the products that have more possibilities are those in which there is a high added value of technology and Santa Fe has a lot of that. That is why we are betting on products such as biodiesel, ethanol and processes to transform grain into products for human and animal food, in which the province has a lot of experience.
Finally, Sebastian Bouvier, a businessman from Uruguay, said he was surprised "by the magnitude of the event and because we see the city of Rosario very beautiful. We have been working with companies from this city for some time and the idea is to continue working with companies from Santa Fe. This year with this opportunity that this event offers us, the will of the parties is to move forward with the import and continue to motivate us to continue with the business".
