The banana sector is very satisfied with the signing of the multi-party agreement between Ecuador and the European Union. Eduardo Ledesma, the president of the Association of Exporters of Bananas of Ecuador (AEBE), said that the signing of this agreement generated many expectations for the banana sector.
In this sense, they announced that a public-private partnership agreement would be signed in May 2017.
"We will work together with the AEBE on a cooperation agreement for the construction of Ecuador's banana sector brand," said the entrepreneur during the launch of the upcoming "XIV International Banana Forum", to be held in Guayaquil.
The Ministry of Foreign Trade, together with ProEcuador and the Association, are organizing the Forum, which will take place this year from October 2 to the 5. Minister Juan Carlos Cassinelli presented some figures that motivated the development of the event. He stated that the banana sector had led Ecuadorian exports in 2016 with 40.6%. "Ecuador is the leading banana supplier to Algeria, Argentina, Russia, and Turkey, countries that will be present in the forum. It is the world's leading banana exporter, with a total share of 29.0% in 2015, surpassing the EU (22.2%) and Costa Rica (8.9%)."
Silvana Vallejo, the executive director of ProEcuador, said that Ecuadorian banana exports had presented an annual average growth rate of 7.2% in FOB value in the last 5 years.
She also said that business expectations during the days of the trade event, would amount to $40 million."We expect there will be 420 business appointments between international buyers from 13 countries and 50 exporting companies in the country."
The exporting companies interested in participating in the event must complete their registration on ProEcuador's website between June 15 and August 25, 2017.
Minister Cassinelli spoke about the tariffs, which were first dismantled in early April 2017.
A tariff reduction for dozens of imported products, including some fruits and clothing, has been in force since April 1, 2017. This is the first relief of these tariffs so far this year.
