Costa Rica. With the aim of promoting and consolidating the exportable offer of Costa Rica in Panama and other Central American countries, the Foreign Trade Promoter (PROCOMER), the national brand Essential Costa Rica and a delegation of 21 companies participated in the multisectoral Expocomer 2023, the took place March 28-30 at the Amador Convention Center in Panama City.
Expocomer brought together more than 600 companies from more than 30 countries in categories such as food, beverage and agricultural products; Textiles, clothing and accessories; technology and electronics.
The companies Nutrisol Vite, Empaques Plásticos Ltda, Industrias Alimenticias De La Vega, Comercializadora Interglobal-interglo, Innovo, Play and Dream, Quality XP Development, Demeter Innovation Lab, WeBrand, ZEWS and moOve Marketing; attend a booth. While Plastilang, Icepack, Torelli, Instamasa, Kemical/Toons, Agrep Forestal, YuntaTica, Naox, Thermosolutions and Grupo Coris; They presented their products in a showcase.
“Central America and Panama are natural markets for Costa Rica. Both the high quality products and services that we export, as well as the language, culture and proximity are some of the characteristics that have allowed us to successfully position many products from different sectors in these regions. For this reason, Expocomer continues to be a key event in our work plan as it enables many small and medium-sized Costa Rican companies to export, particularly from areas outside the metropolitan area,” said Mario Sáenz, PROCOMER Export Development Manager.
During the show, Costa Rican companies conducted activities such as business meetings with potential Panamanian buyers, point of sale visits and booth activations to promote products and generate interest from customers from Panama and other Central American countries.
“For moOve Marketing, attending Expocomer was an excellent opportunity for business networking. Services like ours in advertising and audiovisual production are becoming increasingly globalized. Reaching our fifth year of founding has allowed us to gain experience and gain the technical and human capacity to expand our international services, so all these years of supporting PROCOMER is reflected in our operations, business maturity and of course the placement international services such as in Panama and the United States,” commented Walter Monge, General Manager of moOve Marketing, a Pérez Zeledón company.
In 2022*, 636 Costa Rican companies sent products to Panama, while 948 exported to other Central American countries. Exports to the Panamanian market reached $487.9 million last year, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2% between 2018 and 2022.
Panama is Costa Rica’s third export market in the Central American region, accounting for 20% of the total value exported to that region in 2022. The main export sectors were: food (36%), chemical-pharmaceutical products (28%), plastic (10%) and electrical and electronic equipment (6%).
Exports from Costa Rica to Central America totaled US$1,931 million in 2022, accounting for 16% of total global exports that year, with a CAGR of +10% between 2018 and 2022.
Spring. PROCOMER
*Costa Rican exports data for 2022 excludes April, May and June due to Treasury Department systems being hacked.