Exciting Opportunity to Expand Your Business in Brazil, Colombia and Panama

The Secretary of Commerce will lead an Infrastructure Business Development Mission to Brazil, Colombia and Panama from May 12-18, 2013. In all three countries, the governments and private sector are investing significant money in infrastructure projects. As a result, the mission will focus on export-ready U.S. firms in a broad range of leading U.S. infrastructure industrial sectors with an emphasis on project management and engineering services (construction, architecture and design), transportation (road/highways, rail, airports, ports and intelligent transportation systems), energy (distribution, transmission and smart grid) and safety and security.

If you’re interested in participating in the upcoming business development mission, please visit the mission website to apply: http://www.export.gov/brazilcolombiapanama2013

Why participate in the Infrastructure Mission to Brazil, Colombia and Panama?

Business Development Missions organized by the Department of Commerce provide a unique opportunity for businesses interested in exploring export opportunities overseas. Participating U.S. companies will meet with prescreened potential partners, agents, distributors, representatives, and licensees.  The agenda will also include meetings with high-level national and local government officials, networking opportunities, and country and industry briefings.

A past trade mission participant from the architectural design firm, EHDD Architecture, highlighted her experience with the following statement:

“The overview of the economic and political situations was invaluable and reinforced our understanding of doing business in India. The dozens of meetings we had over the course of four days created direct and tangible results- direct project leads and relationships with potential new clients evolved overnight; something that would have taken years for us to establish on our own…”

Additional Information?

Please visit the mission’s website at http://www.export.gov/brazilcolombiapanama2013 or contact the Office of Business Liaison at BusinessLiaison@doc.gov or 202-482-1360.

Quick Facts

Dates:	May 12-18, 2013
Cities/Countries:	São Paulo and Brasilia (optional), Brazil Bogotá, Colombia Panama City, Panama
Participants:	Secretary of Commerce Selected U.S. Government Officials 20-25 Senior Executives from U.S. Companies
Industry Focus:	Project Management and Engineering Services (including construction, architecture and design) Transportation (including road/highways, rail, airports, ports and intelligent transportation systems) Energy (including distribution, transmission and smart grid) Safety and Security
Application Deadline:	There will be 2 decision points for applications during the recruitment period: Friday, March 8, 2013 Friday, March 22, 2013 Applications received after the March 22nd deadline will be considered as time and space permits.
Participation Fee:	Companies will have two options for participation: Brazil, Colombia and Panama (May 12-18): $11,750 for large firms $9,750 for a small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs – Companies under 500 employees)  $2,750 each additional firm representative (large firm or SME) Colombia and Panama (May 15-18): $7,300 for large firms $5,900 for a small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)  $1,750 each additional firm representative (large firm or SME) Expenses for travel, lodging, and incidentals are the responsibility of each mission participant.