Falklands planning business delegation to Uruguay to buy construction materials, ‘costs the crux of the issue”
The kind of products needed in the Islands are certainly available in Uruguayan terms of construction materials as well as normal every day goods and provisions
However, Sam Cockwell pointed out whether or not they are financially feasible and compare to competition from UK, is the key of the situation.
Talks are continuing over a potential Falkland Islands business delegation to Uruguay later this year. Organized by Falkland Islands Development Corporation and the Chamber of Commerce, the visit would connect Falklands businesses with Uruguayan suppliers. The issue was discussed with Sam Cockwell, Strategic Projects Manager at the Falklands Development Corporation, FIDC
“Last year we received another delegation of visiting politicians from Uruguay, and with other representatives from the Chamber of Commerce and other businesses we were discussing the options for trade with Uruguay, and specifically of why we are not importing more from Uruguay,” said Projects manager Cockwell.
“The kind of products we need are certainly available in Uruguayan terms of construction materials and normal every day goods and provisions, and whatever else we may understand we need”.
However, whether or not they are financially feasible compares to competition from UK, is the key of the situation.
Sam Cockwell said the Falklands have shipping links, “SAAS has done an excellent job connecting us to Uruguay, and connecting us to the world. Besides they are already consolidators and have access to warehousing, so there is no fundamental technical reasons why we can’t make this happen. We should be able to find products that are competitively priced for us here in the Islands, because of the distance we have to ship materials from wherever, and that is essentially the crux of the issue, which is the cost”.
So insisted Sam Cockwell, “he mechanisms to try and develop that supply option, and pinning down those costs is the key thing we must try to get out of the delegation that we are planning”
Ultimately the FIDC is looking at a delegation towards the end of this year,”it is likely to be end of October early November. We potentially see the delegation made up of not more than ten people at this stage, and in a relatively short period. It’ll be a relatively short one”
“We will be looking quite hard, as much as we can, to a more manageable number of people, making it certainly easier, and potentially with a much greater chance of success.