At least 30 Paraguayan companies are expected to take part on October 21 in a business mission by the Paraguayan Industrial Union (UIP) to Curitiba, Brazil. The initiative will include business meetings and engagements with business organizations to pursue commercial opportunities, especially in the state of Paraná.
The agenda includes meetings with chambers and associations, visits to factories, and panels on registering Paraguayan products and selling them in supermarkets. Food, beverages, mechanics, steel, construction, real estate development, and business services are among the sectors expected to be represented in the delegation.
Martín Ruiz, head of the UIP’s International Promotion Center, said the organization wants to encourage Paraguayan companies to actively seek out markets, in addition to taking part in major international trade fairs. Curitiba was chosen because of its proximity to Paraguay and the UIP’s ties with business organizations in Paraná.
Ruiz said that more than 60% of Paraguayan exports under the maquila regime go to Brazil. The Brazilian market is also among the organization’s priorities for expanding business, along with Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Bolivia. For late October, the UIP plans to take part in a business meeting in Resistencia, in Argentina’s Chaco Province.
Ruiz said that this year the UIP has received more delegations of Brazilian businesspeople interested in learning about investment opportunities in Paraguay. He linked this interest to the search for competitiveness amid the growing presence of Chinese products and investment in the Brazilian market, and described Paraguay as a possible platform for regional industrialization.
Ruiz also identified the forestry, timber, pharmaceutical, plastics, and garment sectors as promising areas. He cited access to long-term financing as a challenge for Paraguayan industry and mentioned financing and guarantee funds announced for the sector, which, in his view, could make credit more accessible to companies.