economy

Expocomer ready to open for business

The annual event attracts buyers and sellers from all over the world to Panama for business meetings.

There was an estimated $127 million in commercial transactions conducted at last year’s event, the region’s largest.

David Mesa/la prensa

big deal:A worker readies the Atlapa center for Expocomer.992016

Visitors to the Exposición Comercial Internacional (Expocomer) will find a better, but not bigger, event than last year.

The exhibition, which is the largest of its kind in Central America and the Caribbean, can not be expanded because it uses every available space in the Atlapa Convention Center.

So this year organizers focused on improving the quality of the event.

"We have improved the marketing surrounding the event to hopefully attract more buyers, and we want to match them with exhibitors who are selling the products they want," said Madelene López Ford, directora de Exposiciones y Eventos of the Panama Cámara de Comercio, Industrias y Agricultura.

This is the event's 26th year. It will begin Tuesday and continue through Saturday.

An estimated 40 countries will be represented by the 650 companies at the event.

An estimated 17,000 buyers attended last year's event, and there was an estimated $127 million in commercial transactions made during the week.

Singapore will be represented for the first time, while companies from France and Vietnam will return after an absence of several years.

There are 16 countries sending trade missions to the event. Those officials will meet with companies to discuss potential markets for their goods.

Companies from China are expected to take up almost the entire first floor of the convention center, while Spain, Brazil and Taiwan will also have a large representation.

The five categories being stressed at this year's event are food and beverages, textiles, construction, technology and services. There will also be a seminar about the expansion of the Panama Canal and the country's economic situation. A portion of the seminar will focus on Panama's growing agriculture industry.

Preparing for the event begins almost as soon as the previous year's edition wraps up. The event employees about 65 people.