Venezuela, UNCTAD and CAF successfully complete cycle of workshops to promote diversification of exports

With the objective of strengthening Venezuela's integration in international trade, the cycle of workshops on the “Strategy for Sustainable Export Diversification” ended this Friday.

The initiative, commissioned by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, was dictated by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and funded by the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF).

For one week, eight specialized workshops were held, aimed at national government entities, governorates, Special Economic Zones (SEZs), business associations, the private sector and social capital groups.

In these spaces, the methodology of the Product Space was discussed and the recommendations prepared by Stephanie Blackenburg, head of the Economic Cooperation and Integration Branch among Developing Countries at UNCTAD, were disseminated.

During her speech, Deputy Minister Saatdjian highlighted the main conclusions of the cycle, addressing the impact of unilateral coercive measures on the drastic reduction of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as well as the main “bottlenecks” identified by the participants.

He emphasized the excellent prospects of the plans and projects, taking advantage of the current historic moment of the Venezuelan economy.

He also thanked UNCTAD for the technical collaboration of UNCTAD in preparing the report and for CAF's funding for the realization of the project.

For his part, Deputy Minister Pérez stressed that productive diversification is a fundamental pillar for the rebirth of Venezuela. “In this context, international cooperation — such as that provided by UNCTAD and CAF to organize workshops like this one — must be an instrument for achieving concrete and tangible results. The goal must be: to produce more and better, to invest, to innovate, to cooperate, to unlock and to trade, with the purpose of positioning what is 'Made in Venezuela'”, he said.

Accordingly, the president of Venexporta, Andrea Corao, called on the public and private sectors to join forces and capacities to strengthen the young export promotion agency.

Corao highlighted the importance of moving towards greater institutional coordination, capitalizing on existing experiences and capacities to promote the diversification of non-oil exports in this context of national rebirth.

Finally, the representative of CAF reiterated the institution's commitment, assuring that these types of initiatives are key to leverage Venezuela's reintegration into international trade with its non-oil supply, and offered the Bank's experience to continue advising the country on export diversification.