Apex-Brasil’s Assistance Unit is dedicated in Curitiba
2009-04-22
On April 15th, the Assistance Unit of the Brazilian Export and Investments Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil) was dedicated in Curitiba. With this unit, set up at the International Business Center (CIN) of the Federation of Industries of the State of Parana (Fiep), Apex-Brasil hopes to eliminate one of the main hurdles to exporting goods and services, that is, lack of information. “Now it will be easier for entrepreneurs from Parana to get information, make consultations, and advance projects with an eye to increasing exports”, stated Fiep’s Foreign Trade Thematic Council coordinator, Ardisson Akel, during the dedication ceremony held at Cietep, in Curitiba.
The Apex-Brasil’s agency in Parana will provide entrepreneurs with technical and objective information on business opportunities, ways in which to participate in joint CNI projects, access to research and market prospection data, and assistance services through the Industrial Export Extension Project, among other amenities. “The partnership aims at providing information for companies to position themselves strategically vis-à-vis the international market”, said the Business director of Apex-Brasil, Mauricio Borges.
By the end of the month, five states, including Parana, will have their own Apex-Brasil regional assistance units. “The crisis has put pressure on companies to be more active. The main objective is providing support for foreign trade to become more active”, stated Akel. “We want to raise the number of participating companies”, added Borges. The Assistance Services Unit will assist both non-exporting and exporting companies in its initial phase.
According to entrepreneur Ade Costa, owner and director of Costa Frio, a company in the plastics industry, the dedication of Apex-Brasil’s regional assistance unit “makes it easier” for entrepreneurs wishing to export: “This unit benefits us by speeding up services and allowing the agency to hear us better”, he adds. Costa says that his company has a 80% production surplus that he wants to sell overseas. “The hardest thing for the exporter is finding customers abroad. We are prepared to export, but we need this kind of assitance”, he adds, stressing the importance of participating in international trade shows.
In Parana there are currently 263 companies linked to projects developed by Apex-Brasil. 151 of them are exporting companies that last year alone accounted for R$ 2.8 billion in external sales, 18.3% of the state’s total exports.
