Ecuador's Minister of International Trade: Chicago and Illinois Businesses are Key to Ecuador's Economic Growth; Praises Their Growing Relationships

CHICAGO  – Ecuador’s Minister of International Trade, Francisco Rivadeneira, visited Chicago Wednesday for meetings with key government and business leaders from Chicago and Illinois. In meetings with Deputy Mayor Steven Koch; Daniel Goff, Director of the Illinois Office of Trade and Investment; Cortez Carter, Managing Deputy Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Aviation, and leaders from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Rivadeneira outlined a number of business initiatives that are being finalized between Ecuador and Chicago and the State of Illinois, including a sister city relationship between Quito and Chicago and a “sister airport” relationship between Chicago O’Hare and Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Quito.

Francisco Rivadeneira, Minister of

 International Trade, Ecuador 

Mr. Rivadeneira underscored that Chicago business and governmental leaders should view Ecuador as an increasingly attractive country with which to develop strategic business partnerships. “We believe that Chicago and Illinois are going to be very instrumental in Ecuador’s economic growth. The region is a gateway to the Midwestern and Canadian marketplaces and a central hub for international transport of goods to faraway global markets,” he said. The sister airport agreement, for example, would facilitate direct passenger and cargo flights between the two cities and create opportunities for the respective countries to promote tourism and business development.

Of central importance is the new Chicago Perishable Center at O’Hare airport, a private entity which is now in its operational planning stages and will open in 2014. The Center will enable direct flights of perishable goods to and from O’Hare; goods will arrive fresher and more accessible to Midwestern and Canadian markets. “We are working to solidify agreements with passenger and cargo airlines so they will fly directly between Quito and Chicago O’Hare,” said Rivadeneira. “We also are going to urge TAME, the national airline of Ecuador, to begin passenger flights to and from O’Hare. These flights will increase tourism and commercial activity between the two countries. We are in discussion with American carriers as well.”

Ecuador's International Trade Minister Francisco Rivadeneira

holds meetings with Chicago political and business 

leaders October 9.

At the meeting with the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, Rivadeneira stated, “the Chicago area is home to many companies related to transportation, manufacturing, mining, eco-environment and technology with which we are now doing business in Ecuador. We want to do even more business with Illinois companies.”

“We are a resource-rich country and we’re just now beginning to develop them in a sustainable way,” he said. “We’re using American equipment to do the job, and we will need much more of it.” For American companies and startups, several advantages to setting up shop in Quito were noted: a skilled technical labor force, the low cost of living, same time zone and currency, tax incentives, etc.

Bill Moller interviews Francisco Rivadeneira on First Business

Rivadeneira also emphasized Ecuador’s strong initiatives in technology and education. Among them, a government sponsored program that sends Ecuador’s best students to top US universities. “We’re going to expand the program; Illinois has several top schools with whom we hope to develop partnerships,” he said.

Another key initiative is the “City of Knowledge” near Quito, a large national program to bring together technologists, engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs to be used as a cluster for business development from a wide variety of disciplines, and for innovative approaches to such efforts as the transition to alternative, sustainable energy sources and the building of new national infrastructure. “The City of Knowledge is Ecuador’s nucleus of new ideas and technological breakthroughs that will create Ecuador’s sustainable, knowledge-based economy of the future,” said Rivadeneira. “We hope to develop partnerships with Chicago’s technology incubator programs. We want technology firms in Illinois to know we are definitely a forward-thinking country.”

To see more photos, visit Flickr here.

Photos by Cindy Kurman, Kurman Communications, Inc.

Ecuador's Minister of Foreign Trade embarks on first-ever American tour; Chicago visit on October 9

Newly created Cabinet-level position emphasizes Ecuador's priority focus on trade relations with U.S.A.

Ecuador's Minister of Foreign Trade, Mr. Francisco Rivadeneira, will soon begin a series of meetings with American political and business leaders. His visit to Chicago on October 9 is one of the major stops on his American tour. Mr. Rivadeneira's role as Minister of Foreign Trade is a newly created, cabinet level position, reporting directly to President Rafael Correa. As a member of President Correa's cabinet, Mr. Rivadeneira has a crucial role in improving and expanding trade relations with the United States, which is Ecuador's largest trading partner. He will be accompanied on his Chicago visit by Ecuadorian Ambassador to the United States, Ms. Nathalie Cely.

Finalizing trade agreements with United States

Mr. Rivadeneira's top priority with regard to the United States is to finalize the renewal process of the trade preferences agreements which expired earlier this year and obtain the inclusion of key Ecuadorian export products such as artichokes, broccoli and roses in the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) agreement, which gives trade preferences to developing countries including Ecuador, and eliminates requirements for American importers to pay duties on these goods.

Secondly, the Minister of Foreign Trade hopes to encourage the United States to re-start bilateral trade agreement negotiations. Strengthening Economic Initiatives with ChicagoAnother key goal for Mr. Rivadeneira is to continue to generate momentum for a number of economic initiatives that are already underway, involving the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago.

Among the meetings scheduled are a meeting with members of Governor Pat Quinn's Department of Economic Development and Trade as well as meetings with Mayor Rahm Emanuel's staff, leaders of the Chicago Department of Aviation, and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. Topics on the agenda include the opening of the new Chicago Perishable Center early next year, which will enable Ecuador to fly fresh imported perishable goods directly to Chicago.

Additionally, Mr. Rivadeneira will be finalizing "sister city" agreements with the City of Chicago and Quito, which is the capital city of Ecuador, and a "sister airport" agreement between Chicago O'Hare and Mariscal Sucre International Airport near Quito.

"These are important new developments that will positively impact both cities," said Mr. Rivadeneira. "We are creating many cooperative relationships that include educational opportunity, import and export arrangements and business and financial investment. We are thrilled at the opportunities that are emerging and I'm looking forward to formalizing many of these agreements while I am in Chicago."

Mr. Rivadeneira also will address several members of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs as well as economic and foreign trade experts at a luncheon. He also hopes to meet with the top executives of Thoughtworks, a Chicago-based high-tech company, in addition to several Chicago based companies that do business with Ecuador in the construction, medical, transportation and infrastructure sectors of Ecuador. Thoughtworks recently launched operations in Quito, citing the highly skilled technical workforce as their reason for opening operations there.

Ecuador's vision for partnership with the United States

While in Chicago, the Minister of Foreign Trade wants to present his vision for significant expansion of trade between Ecuador and the United States and the opening of opportunities for American investment in Ecuador. "Our trade relationship with the United States is extremely important," said Mr. Rivadeneira. "We will be discussing important matters such as enabling increased exportation of Ecuadorian products to the United States. We also want to emphasize that Ecuador should be high on the list of attractive platforms for investment by American businesses. South America is the fastest-growing region in the world, according to the International Monetary Fund. The region is growing at almost three times the rate of the rest of the world."

Mr. Rivadeneira plans to make the case that there are many opportunities for American investment in Ecuador, and the country welcomes this investment. "We want the American business community to know we are an increasingly attractive business hub for American companies in other industries who want to expand into the South American marketplace," he said. "Ecuador has not been aggressive enough in telling this story in America, but now we are committed to getting the message out to the business community and the public."

Thirty-eight (38) percent of all Ecuadorian exports come to the United States. Of particular note are agricultural products such as artichokes, quinoa, bananas, broccoli and chocolate, floral products including the world's best roses, and a variety of fresh fish, including tuna. "Ecuador's agricultural products are of extremely high quality and are sold throughout the United States," said Mr. Rivadeneira.

The new Chicago Perishable Center will be an economic boost to Chicago and Ecuador

Ecuadorian imports will get a strong boost in early 2014 when a new state-of-the art Chicago Perishable Center at O'Hare Airport will be launched. The Center represents the first time in decades that airlines will be able to fly perishable goods directly to Chicago. Ecuador's Commercial Office in Chicago has played a pivotal role in helping the Chicago Perishable Center to get underway because many of Ecuador's products, such as roses, will be shipped directly to Chicago from Ecuador. The products will arrive in the Midwest in fresher condition, which means that they will have a longer shelf life and be much more accessible to other markets in the Midwest and Canada, where there will be a high demand.

About Ecuador's Economy

The Ecuadorian government has been making consistently positive moves to strengthen the middle class and ensure economic stability. Besides governmental investments in a number of key areas that benefit average Ecuadorians, Ecuador also is increasing educational opportunity for its citizens by forging educational partnerships with American colleges and universities. Extreme poverty has fallen from 40 percent in 2001 to 17 percent in 2011. Unemployment has been trending down from 7.6 percent in 2010 to 4.8 percent in 2012. Ecuador's currency is the U.S. Dollar. Between 2007 and 2012 the Ecuadorian economy grew at an annual average of 4.3 percent, which was above the Latin American/Caribbean average of 3.5 percent according to the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.

About Mr. Francisco Rivadeneira, Ecuador's Minister of Foreign Trade

Mr. Rivadeneira earned a Master's degree in International Economics from the Institut des Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva, Switzerland and also a Master's Degree in International Negotiations from Simon Bolivar Andean University in Ecuador. He is a professor at several Ecuadorian universities. From 2010-2013, he served as Vice-Minister on Foreign Trade and Economic Integration for Ecuador. He also has extensive private sector experience with Citibank N.A. Quito-Ecuador and the Export and Investment Promotion Corporation (CORPEI). He is fluent in English and French as well as his native Spanish.