St. Kitts and Nevis takes part in EXPO ALADI to broaden its horizons

St. Kitts and Nevis: Embassy SKN- Cuba highlighted on its official Facebook page that St. Kitts and Nevis participate in ‘EXPO ALADI’ hosted by Cuba. The event takes place at the PABEXPO Convention Centre in Havana. The fair was hosted by the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI).

On Monday, October 2 2023, the Counsellor, Mr Winston Hanley, attended the opening ceremony of the trade fair.

Opportunity offerings by EXPO ALADI:

The tenth edition of the EXPO ALADI takes place from October 2 to 4, 2023, in Havana. It provides various opportunities for small and medium-sized Latin American enterprises. Some of them are mentioned below:

• To promote their goods and services
• Explore new business opportunities and partnerships
• Seek out potential suppliers to increase their presence in the region
• Enhance regional trade and cooperation

The event is set to continue till Wednesday. After being held virtually in previous years due to the pandemic, the event has made a comeback, this time with a focus on promoting a diverse range of products and services.

These include sectors such as livestock, food and beverages, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, textiles, apparel, footwear, plastics, packaging, tourism, communications, and transportation.

Expo ALADI is an annual event that has been helping businesses explore new opportunities since 2014 to secure their position in the Latin American and Caribbean markets. It provides a vital platform for businesses to showcase their goods and services, tap into new markets, and forge promising alliances.

‘Ambassador Verna Mills’ participated in the event. He visited the booths and interacted with entrepreneurs from several countries, including Brazil, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador and Peru.

The ALADI is comprised of thirteen Member States: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, México, Panamá, Paraguay, Perú, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Empowering Regional Integration:

Expo ALADI 2023 represents a crucial step towards achieving regional integration. The event encourages intra-regional trade, which is instrumental in driving economic growth and development across the region.

It also offers an opportunity for Cuban entities to overcome the challenges posed by economic blockades and expand their commercial and financial operations. The Expo ALADI 2023 is expected to play a pivotal role in increasing exports, diversifying markets for products and services, substituting imports, and attracting foreign capital in businesses that generate exports, all of which are part of the strategies undertaken for national economic development.

The Latin American Integration Association:

The Latin American Integration Association, which is also known as ALADI, is the largest Latin American group of integration. It covers more than 20 million square kilometres and more than 493 million people.

Key takeaways of ALADI:

The Latin American Integration Association is an international and regional scope organization. Its key takeaways include-

• Responsible for regulations on foreign trade
• Regulations on technical measures
• Sanitary regulations
• Environment protection measures
• Quality control measures
• Automatic licensing measures
• Price control measures
• Monopolistic measures

These regulations are put into place in order for trade to be even-handed amongst members of ALADI.

Objectives of ALADI:

ALADI aims to promote the harmonious and balanced socio-economic development of the region, and its long-term objective is the gradual and progressive establishment of a Latin-American single market.

Basic Functions of ALADI:

• Promotion and regulation of reciprocal trade
• Economic complementation
• Development of economic cooperation actions contributing to the market extension.