SDNP Colombia: made in Colombia at ExpoHannover 2000
"We have identified a particular productive sector, which is also an exporting one that fulfils our expectations of "groundwork" for sustainable development -- namely the handicraft sector."Juan Manuel Soto, SDNP Colombia national coordinator.
ECOMERZ is an Internet website, built by SDNP Colombia and Proexport -- the Export Promoting entity of Colombia, selling on-line Colombian handicrafts.One of the aims of SDNP Colombia, claims Juan Manuel Soto, "is to promote a change in Colombia's development paradigm by directing our attentions to those who are in the field interacting on national natural resources."
The beginning of SDNP Colombia
SDNP Colombia has only been operational for one year, and yet it has become an important centre of information gathering and dissemination for those striving to forward the ideas of sustainable development. Students, researchers, professional environmentalists and individuals have registered from all corners of Colombia, as well as from other parts the world. By the 30th of June 2000 there were 1748 impressions from the capital city of Bogotá, 2365 from other cities and towns and 941 from other countries. Of the ones that came from outside of Colombia, most were from Central and Southern America, such as Mexico, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile and Argentina. But there were some accesses from the developed countries such as Sweden, the US, France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Australia.
Handicraft: "groundwork" for sustainable development
However, beside striving to become visible and have a presence in the web as an important information portal for Colombians, the main aim the of SDNP Colombia is to link up developmental partners with each other and to the rest of the world. SDNP Colombia carries mostly national information related to sustainable development . The SDNP website provides a special section dedicated solely to regional and local topics of interest to promote a change in Colombia's development paradigm by directing the attention to those who are in the field interacting with national natural resources.
SDNP Colombian has identified a particular productive sector, which is also an exporting one, that fulfils our expectations of "groundwork" for sustainable development -- namely the handicraft sector.
Handicrafts are produced by people who work mostly with their hands using renewable or recycled materials. The export market of Colombian handicrafts has reached an annual average of US$450 million, bringing enormous benefits to marginal and mostly low-income communities and families. RDS is helping to spread these benefits by providing an electronic platform where these environmentally friendly products and their producers have access to foreign markets via the Internet.
The RDS has partnered with the Export Promoting entity of Colombia -- Proexport -- creating a website which includes handicrafts and a selection of companies that will have a physical presence at ExpoHannover 2000 (www.expo2000.de) -- the largest commercial fair of the turn of the century. Through an affiliated agency called Asociacion Colombiana para el Avance de la Ciencia (ACAC), Proexport provided US$10,000 to allow the beginning of Ecomerz project.
However, since the Colombian producers still do not trust e-commerce as a business option, it took over two months of negotiations between SDNP and Proexport staffs in order to obtain official support for the project.
Initially the website was operating solely with artisans products before the alliance with Proexport. Since then it has grown in scope. During the duration of the ExpoHannover SDNP Colombia will increase the current product supply to include a wider and miscellaneous range of products including coal, fruits, biological pest control, petroleum, jewelry, flowers, shrimps, and emeralds among others things. Once the fair ends on October 31st, the artisans will have a better and more specialized platform where their products, only those that have been "ECO" certified, will be present. As a result, the artisans will gain some world visibility and can count on a better technological platform to increase future foreign trade. The RDS has been instrumental in this development and wishes to continue being so, nationally and hopefully in other developing countries.
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