Latin America - Focus for the German Economy
Almost 400 participants at conference on Latin America in Berlin
On 30 November 2011, the conference "Latin America - Focus for the German Economy" was held in Berlin. Almost 400 decision makers from industry, politics and society accepted the invitation from KfW Bankengruppe and DIHK (Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce) to discuss Latin America’s great economic potential and the market opportunities for German companies arising from it.
KfW Bankengruppe was represented by its subsidiaries DEG and KfW IPEX-Bank, both responsible for international finance, as well as by its business area KfW Entwicklungsbank. The Latin American Initiative of the German economy participated as a partner.
A total of nine workshops provided for lively discussions on key topics such as climate and environment as well as security of commodity supply or on focal countries.
The participants of the workshop on climate agreed that especially the fields of renewable energies and energy efficiency offer large market potential for German enterprises. This can partly be explained by the companies' innovation potential and know-how in the field of technology, but also by gradually changing framework conditions in the Latin American target countries.
In the workshop on commodity supply the participants discussed, among other things, the influence of the German government with regard to securing raw materials and commodity projects and how companies are able to benefit from that. The workshop also dealt with the issue of financing options for commodity projects as well as with the attitude of financial service providers, the Federal Government and companies towards the compliance with international standards.
In addition to Brazil and Mexico, the country workshops also treated the topic of the Andean countries Peru and Colombia. These two countries belong to the generation of emerging economies in Latin America. The panelists presented different views on these two countries, while they agreed on one point: German SMEs should not and shall not remain focused on Brazil alone - other countries, first and foremost Colombia and Peru, likewise offer huge potential for profitable investments.
Services provided by KfW Bankengruppe, trade and professional associations, country associations and other institutions to companies planning to invest in Latin America, completed the range of workshops. Thus one of the workshops pursued the aim of introducing some of the options with regard to the Latin American market especially to German SMEs and of giving them advise as to how and where to find guidance and financial support.
Following the workshops, Federal Foreign Minister Dr Guido Westerwelle presented the Government's approach on Latin America.
The conference was closed with a panel discussion with Dr Ulrich Schröder, Chief Executive Officer of KfW Bankengruppe, Dr. Martin Wansleben, CEO of DIHK, Dr. Reinhold Festge, Chairman of LAI and Luiz Eduardo Melin de Carvalho e Silva, Member of the Advisory Board of the Brazilian bank BNDES.
