Letter of Invitation from Mr. Hendrik G. Roelofsen
Director, Division of Coordination for Technical Cooperation of ITC and from
Mr. Richard Moss Ferreira, General Director,
Secretariat of the Andean Community

Ref. : LatinPharma Expo 2003

Dear Sirs and Madams:

The International Trade Centre (ITC) of the United Nations, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, is developing activities for the promotion of international trade in several regions of the world. One of these activities was carried out within the sphere of the Central American Common Market, with an eye toward the expansion of trade in medications. This pilot project, titled LatinPharma, took place in April of 2002 in San Salvador, El Salvador.

Because of the success, ITC decided to organize a similar conference, directed mainly to the countries of the Andean Community of Nations (CAN: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela), but open to anyone interested from other countries. LatinPharma 2003 has the support of the General Secretariat of the CAN and it is directed to the sector of medications and natural products (click to see the list of products). The sectored methodology used consists on sponsoring the intra-regional commercial exchange between companies, exporters and importers, as well as suppliers, universities and public and private institutions.

In accordance with the recommendations of the CAN, there has been designated in each member country, organizations for the promotion of exports (click here to see the list of these organizations) that will act as counterpart entities to coordinate the development of the methodology. These organizations have identified the companies involved in the productive chain and they have carried out studies around the structures and marketing of production, as well as regarding the characteristics of the regional offer and demand. An Internet page has been made to favor the exchange of information linked to the sector in all of Latin America (http://www.latinpharma.net) where one can access the relative information to LatinPharma Expo 2003. The encounter will take place in Lima, Peru, between the 8th and 11th of July of 2003, in the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Andean Community, located on Paseo de la República 3895, Lima 27.

During the encounter a business to business meeting, a series of conferences, a round table about natural products and an international fair will be organized (the program of the event can be seen by clicking here). The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) will support the program through the project, "The Biotrade Initiative". A particular importance will be given to natural products since the region possesses a natural wealth of enormous potential and will be focused on the small and medium companies.

Your presence in this program would contribute significantly to the development of the sector and we hope to be able to count on it.

Cordially.