Costa Rican producers and exporters are in Colombia this month for a round of visits and talks to search out new markets for their products, reported the Costa Rican foreign trade promotion agency, Procomer.

A recent market study conducted by Procomer, “Colombia: analysis for the marketing of pastas, snacks, cookies, and sauces,” has been a tool for businesses in Costa Rica over the past year to orient their goods towards that market.

This year, Procomer analyzed the service sector to better understand Colombia’s market for digital animation, video games and apps, which are also potential exports Costa Rica can provide to its South American neighbor.

In 2016, Costa Rica exported US$70.4 million in goods to Colombia. The main exports were unprocessed lead, needles and catheters, medicines, medical prostheses, and tires.

This year’s trade mission seeks to increase the offering of products to Colombia, as the two countries enter their second year of relations under a free trade agreement.

Florex, Grupo Montemarmol, Alimentos Prosalud, Soldanza, and TeaLand are come of the companies displaying environmentally friendly cleaning products, canned tuna, snacks, marble, and tea products in Bogota, Colombia at a commercial exporters mission organized by Procomer and the Chamber of Industries of Costa Rica (ICRC, its initials in Spanish).

“Colombia is a very broad, competitive and self-sufficient market, but in Costa Rica we have food and high value-added industrial products that have the opportunity to enter. For this reason we must continue to promote these type of activities to make known and position the Costa Rican exportable offer,” said Pedro Beirute Prada, Procomer general manager, in an interview with Central America’s Summa business magazine.