More export activity in Nicaragua during 2014

MANAGUA, Nicaragua - May 30, 2014 - PRLog -- Nicaraguan exports have reached an estimate of US$1,100 million up to March 2014 (excluding free zones), US$50 million more than the same period in 2013, according to data by the country’s Exports and Investment Center (CEI, for its acronym in Spanish).

Although the top export products continue to be coffee, meat, gold and sugar, the second half of 2014 will see an increase in the export of pitaya, roots and chia, commented Roberto Brenes, General Manager of CEI. He added that seafood, honey and cocoa are also increasingly exported products.

At the same time, Al-Invest, a European Union program, is helping Nicaragua to create new export companies. As a result of the fourth phase of the program, at least 847 small and medium Nicaraguan enterprises have become more productive and competitive and exported an approximate of US$3.7 million during 2013.

“At the end of the program, 69 percent of the small and medium enterprises without experience improved their competitiveness and 31 percent are now in the preliminary phase of internationalization”, stated Azucena Castillo, General Manager of the Association of Producers and Exporters of Nicaragua (APEN, for its acronym in Spanish).

In the framework of the Al-Invest program, APEN worked largely with export potential areas related to the organic products sectors like honey, cocoa, coffee, cashew, sesame and special coffees.

Al-Invest is an economic cooperation program that aims to support the internationalization of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Latin America, in collaboration with their European partners in order to contribute to reinforce social cohesion in the region.