Governor Pedro Pierluisi justified the commercial missions undertaken by the Puerto Rico government as part of the promotion of economic activity on the island, assuring that the goal is to “open the border” of the country.
“What we want is to stimulate economic activity, create good paying jobs in Puerto Rico, attract investment to Puerto Rico, apart from the fact that we’re also positive about Puerto Rican companies doing business abroad, be it.” Colombia, be it Mexico, be it the Dominican Republic, whatever the deal. We also welcome Colombian companies doing business here,” said Pierluisi.
Furthermore, Pierluisi added: “What we want is to open our borders and they come here, we go there, to generate more economic activity, and that is the purpose of these missions … and they are missions to foreign countries.” He even pointed out that Puerto Rican businessmen went there to do business there and sometimes ended up acting as representatives of target companies.
Since mid-2022, the Department of Economic Development and Trade (DDEC) has launched the trade mission to Bogotá and Medellín to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) form alliances and identify expansion opportunities.
DDEC Secretary Manuel Cidre emphasized that “the regulatory base of the pharmaceutical industry in Colombia already has a Puerto Rican component in a local company running this very line (Avianca). Second, there are companies that have returned to Colombia to offer Puerto Rican products and Colombian companies that have returned to Puerto Rico for these commercial exchanges. Third, we “Pro Colombia” have had ongoing discussions with the American Colombian Chamber of Bogotá and the pharmaceutical sector to strengthen ties.”
“The channels are open, the sectors are identified, the businessmen are in a bilateral business relationship both from Colombia to Puerto Rico and from Puerto Rico to Colombia,” Cidre said.
