MONTGOMERY – Governor Bob Riley will lead a delegation of business and government leaders on an economic development mission to Colombia from Monday-Wednesday next week. During the visit, the Alabama delegation will meet with top business prospects and senior government officials, including Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe.
“Colombia is a growing market for Alabama exports and part of our strategy to help Alabama’s economy is to create jobs through trade and investment,” said Governor Riley. “We must not retreat from growth markets like Colombia. This is the very moment we need to capture the opportunities that exist in these markets.”
Alabama exported more than $432 million of goods and services to Colombia in 2008, a 176 percent increase from 2007. Colombia is Alabama’s ninth largest export market. The state’s top exports to Colombia include industrial machinery, aircraft, vehicles and electrical machinery.
The Alabama Development Office has worked to line up meetings between delegation members and potential customers, as well as a South American candy and food producer/distributor that has expressed an interest in possibly locating a facility in Alabama.
The Alabama delegation will also meet with a Colombian public-private partnership agency that is establishing port operations and navigation capability on the Magdalena River, a development which could lead to increased opportunities for Alabama’s port operations in Mobile.
During the past few years, Alabama has become a real player in the international economy. The growth of the state’s exports has been among the nation’s best. Governor Riley has led several previous economic development missions to open new markets for Alabama exports, attract new investments and build partnerships that are necessary to expand Alabama’s trade relations.
In 2004, the Governor created Export Alabama, a statewide initiative to increase the state’s trade with other countries. Since then, Alabama exports rose from $8.3 billion in 2004 to almost $16 billion in 2008.