Proexport: A useful tool for small and large exporters

1.CONCEPTS:

• PROEXPORT: "Institution in charge of promoting Colombian non-traditional exports, international tourism and foreign investment to Colombia." (Proexport, 2010) 

2. HOW CAN PROEXPORT CONTRIBUTE WITH COLOMBIAN EXPORTERS?

Proexport is a tool that allows the insertion of Colombian exporters to another countries, this is donde through many strategies and mechanisms to ensure competitiveness not only for the company but also for the country.

Many times when a company plans to export its products or services to another country, it is possible that the company doesn't have the required experience to do it,  and when I speak about experience I am not only referrring to the knowledge that a company has of a foreign market or about the strategies that it could implement as "Christine Gibbs Stewart, general manager International Trade with ABL State Chamber, says the first step to export should not be thinking about which market to enter, but looking at your own business and whether it is capable of exporting" (NSW Business Chamber, 2010)

The exportation process comprises a number of items that must be carefully analyzed because otherwise a company could have serious consequences like bankruptcy or "Failures can affect your reputation, be very costly, and make future success harder to achieve.” (Gibbs Stewart, 2010)

Because of the above information companies can use this tool that will allow the follow topics:

1. Identification of market opportunities:

Companies should try to use the best tools and sources for information on potential customers and they should know all the facts required to begin with exportation.

Proexport allows to the Colombian export community to have "updated information on market opportunities for Colombian products in international markets and in turn, provides the internationalcommunity, complete information on the colombian foreign trade, our business and their exports". (Proexport, 2010). For that, proexport have a good tool: The Marketing Intelligence System.

this is very important because a company could identify export destinations to adapt to a nich market depending on the products. For example a medium size company has the opportunity to have information about markets and products, besides this is a free service so this is important because allows small companies to have access when they don't have the economic capability to do it.

2. Design of market penetration strategies: Companies have to design strong strategies that will allow have a competitive advantage with simmilar companies in a foreign companies. For example it is a need that companies take into account strategies of:

•  Production capacity to maintain demand from foreign markets
•  Financial ability 
•  Confront the regulations
• Making the product competitive
• logistics and freight costs
• Others

Proexport can contribute and help companies to design strategies that companies need to penetrate other markets. For example if you want to export furniture to, proexport offers in the webpage a furniture market research of Mexico that can provide information like the strenghts of the sector weaknesses of the sector,

expectations of the industry, the foreign trade performance, fdi, and much more information that is useful to organizations to design and implement strategies and to make decisions.

3. Contact with both sellers and buyers: "If you can visit the country and study its special characteristics, examine the opportunities and identify the competition first hand, do so".  (NSW business chamber, 2010). however, many companies don´t have the experience to contact with another foreign companies, so proexport play a important rol because this institution helps to both sellers and buyers to contact with others.

Proexport is a good tool for entrepeneurs because it not only supports one exportation activity but also supports the process, which sometimes is difficult for inexperienced companies.

"Aditionally, we made alliances with national and international private and public, that we can broaden the availability of resources to support various business initiatives that promote the organization or for developing and enhancing its service portfolio." (Proexport, 2010)

3. POINT OF VIEW

When a colombian exporter has not the sufficient experience to sell products or services in other countries, it is possible that they could fail, this could cause a losses for the company, and more even in the case of medium and small companies which have a poor hability to cope with such challenges.

Many of the sevices are free is better for companies to come up to the help of institutions like proexport that give tools and options to the colombian exporters.

Many companies have failed in the exportation process because they doesn´t take into account the possible mechanism to do it. Colombian exporters has many options, not only proexport helps them to develop their operations in the moment to enter to another market, but also exist institutions like Bancoldex,  or fiducoldex.

CYBERGRAPHY



Bancoldex (2010). Products and services. [online]:
http://www.bancoldex.com/portal_ingles/portal/default.aspx

Canada border services agency. (2010)  Small and Medium Enterprise Centre: A step-by-Step Guide to Exporting. [online]: http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/sme-pme/e-guide-eng.html

Ministerio de Comercio e Industria de Colombia (2010). [online]: http://mincomercio.gov.co/

NSW Business Chamber (2010). A beginner's guide to export. [online]:
http://www.nswbusinesschamber.com.au/?content=/channels/International_trade/Import_Export_assistance/New_exporters/beginnersguidetoexport.xml

Proexport (2010). About proexport. [online]: http://www.proexport.com.co/VBeContent/newsdetail.asp?id=4598&idcompany=17&ItemMenu=3_250


The port of Brisbane. getty image. (online) Available at: http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/104932505/Bloomberg