Nicaragua participated in the 2012 Competitiveness Forum

PRLog (Press Release) - Nov. 1, 2012 - Nicaragua recently participated in the Inter-American Competitiveness Network (RIAC, for its acronym in Spanish) recently organized the Annual Americas Competitiveness Forum (ACF) in the city of Cali, Colombia, whose objective every year is to facilitate commercial development and allow exchange of ideas and knowledge in order for countries of the Americas to become more innovative, productive and competitive, therefore improving the living standards of its inhabitants.

The Forum, hosted by President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos, consisted of several meetings with the participation of Walter Bastian, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce; General Alvaro Baltodano, Presidential Delegate for Investments; Yalí Molina, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Nicaragua (AMCHAM); and Cesar Zamora, Country Manager of the renewable energy company AEI Nicaragua, as well as representatives of both countries’ embassies. The meetings demonstrated the increasingly important role that commerce plays in maintaining a two-way communication between both governments.

“We have to take maximum advantage of CAFTA and that’s what we are trying to do, among other things, in this meeting in Cali”, said Yalí Molina to The Nicaragua Dispatch.

Commerce between Nicaragua and the United States represented 35 percent of Nicaragua’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2011. Nicaragua exported a total of US$662.8 million in goods to the United States, representing a 15 percent increase versus the US$574.0 million attracted in 2010.

General Alvaro Baltodano visited Washington, D.C. earlier this year with the objective of participating at a forum organized by Latin America and the Caribbean (AACCLA), in order to present a convincing case for why the United States should continue to work with Nicaragua to achieve sustainable social and economic development.