Colombia Interested in Replicating Spain’s Successful Experiences

With CAF’s support, successful programs to support SMEs will be implemented in Colombia thanks to an agreement between Spain’s Higher Council of Chambers of Commerce and the Spanish Cooperation Agency.

(Bogotá, March 14, 2006) Members of Spain’s Higher Council of Chambers of Commerce met with representatives of various national public and private institutions, the Embassy of Spain and CAF, represented by the Colombia Country Office, with the purpose of exploring possibilities for joint projects aimed at promoting development of Colombian SMEs.

The Higher Council is an official body that groups and represents Spain’s private companies and boasts a wide portfolio of programs to support SMEs it seeks to promote in Colombia through an agreement with the Spanish Cooperation Agency.

During the meeting, programs were presented to create and consolidate SMEs, streamlining incorporation of companies, a business support program for women, support for internationalization and export efforts of SMEs, among others.

“We bring together institutions we think best represent the SME promotion sector, including Analdex, Bancoldex, Proexport, Acopi, Asobancaria, Anif, the National Guarantee Fund, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism and the Spanish Embassy. The Council presented its programs and aroused considerable interest to replicate many experiences,” said Manuel Malaret, Director of SME and Microfinance at CAF.

Malaret noted that several of the programs presented were already being successfully implemented in Colombia, but there was a strong interest in learning more about other activities. “Two programs aroused special interest. The foreign promotion onboarding plan, which supports SME export efforts, and the local antenna program, a new service that takes small units to remote sites, providing these companies with access to information about product processes, information on development, and advice for managerial improvement,” he said.

CAF, through the SMEs and Microfinance Directorate, currently promotes various projects to enable access to capital in sectors with funding limitations, including small and medium-sized enterprises as well as the rural, education and healthcare sectors.

In Colombia, strategic alliances have been forged with entities to finance SMEs, such as the National Guarantee Fund, an entity with which CAF signed a new credit consolidation agreement for up to US$10 million favoring some 5,800 companies.

Similarly, a partnership with the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania and Universidad de los Andes is advancing the Global Consulting Practicum (GCP), which promotes internationalization of SMEs through consulting.

In the long term, new initiatives are planned to support the education and rural sectors. “There are several projects in the design stage; we want to advance a venture capital project for Colombian SMEs and offer equity capital facilities that would initially benefit approximately 20 companies. We have also thought about implementing a mechanism to finance smallholder farmers, as well as students in technical and technological courses,” said Manuel Malaret.