When you think of a beef export power, countries like Argentina, Australia or Brazil come to mind. Not Paraguay necessarily. In fact, very few know that in 2015, Paraguay exported $420 million more meat than Argentina, for a total of $1.3 billion, slightly below Uruguay and its total of $1.6 billion, (source: IDB's INTrade portal). Today, it is more common for a Russian to eat … [Read more...] about How did Paraguay become a champion of meat exports?
Trade Facilitation
What’s the future of Free Trade Agreements?
After decades of deepening regional integration in Europe, in 2016 voters in the United Kingdom (UK) chose to leave the European Union (EU). The UK is now triggering EU Treaty Article 50 to bring its five decades of EU membership to a close within two years. And in January 2017, the president of the United States announced his country’s withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific … [Read more...] about What’s the future of Free Trade Agreements?
Who Would Arrive First on a Trip between Mexico and Panama: A Marathon Runner or a Truck Driver?
Don Heriberto Martinez, a 55-year-old truck driver from El Salvador, spent most of his adult life transporting goods down the Pacific corridor. The corridor is the shortest route between Mexico and Panama, where six billion dollars of commercial goods are transported every year. Martinez usually spends eight days to drive its 3,200 kilometers. On the other hand, Dennis Kimetto … [Read more...] about Who Would Arrive First on a Trip between Mexico and Panama: A Marathon Runner or a Truck Driver?
Are we entering a new era of trade facilitation cooperation in Latin America?
This afternoon, Brazil’s Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services and Argentina’s Ministry of Production announced a technical cooperation with the Inter-American Development Bank. The goal is to intensify areas for dialogue between Brazilian and Argentinian governments and private sectors to effectively implement measures to facilitate bilateral trade. The IDB will … [Read more...] about Are we entering a new era of trade facilitation cooperation in Latin America?
How did a Paraguayan SME manage to overcome barriers and the cost of information to offer a top product that meets international standards?
When Paraguay Teas was created, Margarita Duarte and her sister Marisa were two young, entrepreneurial women from the city who one day went touring the Paraguayan countryside to talk directly to farmers. Many of them where men older than the Duarte sisters, who listened with suspicion to the strangers. Little by little the Duarte sisters managed to buy, process and pack high … [Read more...] about How did a Paraguayan SME manage to overcome barriers and the cost of information to offer a top product that meets international standards?