By Caribbean Business
During the convention dubbed Buyers Trade Mission (BTM) 2016, held last week in Costa Rica, the Puerto Rico Aerospace Cluster signed a memorandum of understanding with the Costa Rica Aerospace Cluster with the aim of implementing a strategy of joint cooperation, training and sharing of best practices in the industry to cover more international markets.
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From left to right, Marko Álvaro Piedra, exports manager of Costa Rica’s Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER); Marko Mileta, President of the Costa Rica aerospace cluster; Antonio Negrón, President of the Puerto Rico aerospace cluster, and Pedro Beirute, CEO of PROCOMER.
BTM is a convention held annually in San Jose, Costa Rica by the Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER) of the Government of Costa Rica in which export companies are linked with international buyers and companies.
Antonio Negrón, President of the PR Aerospace Cluster and aerospace sector representative in the Puerto Rico Industrialists Association’s board of directors, said that the Costa Rica memorandum is noteworthy because it is the first such agreement to take shape out of several alliances that the organization is trying to carry out with its counterparts from around the world.
“The aerospace supply chain is a global chain, so, for us, the logical first step of our strategy to strengthen the growth of this industry on the island is to know what suppliers are in different regions,” said Negrón. “On this visit coordinated by PROCOMER, we know that the technical skills and understanding that Costa Rica possesses complement those that we have in Puerto Rico. From this alliance, we can use Costa Rican manufacturing and design inputs in our projects and vice versa. The idea is to find how we can help both countries in the global market, focusing mainly on the US.”
“Puerto Rico is still positioned as a major player in the aerospace industry. We already have companies dedicated to engineering and services such as CSC Corporation, Infotech Aerospace Services, Honeywell Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, Florida Turbine Technologies, Essig, Aerospace Avenger and others,” he added. “We also have companies manufacturing for the aerospace industry as UTC Aerospace Systems, Opti Manufacturing, AKM Industries, Positronics; and a growing field in the area of repair and maintenance of aircraft with companies such as Lufthansa Technik, Ecolift, Million Air and others.”
During the 18th annual edition of BTM in Costa Rica, the PR aerospace cluster carried out meetings with several aerospace companies. According to Marko Mileta, from PROCOMER representative office in New York, the Costa Rican cluster will visit the island next year to generate new business contacts. Negrón added that they are also discussing the possibility of companies from Costa Rica to participate in the next convention of the Puerto Rico Industrialists Association and other events related to the aerospace cluster.
The Costa Rica Aerospace Cluster consists of AD Astra Rocket, Atemisa Precision, Avionyx, Camerica, Camtronics, Central America Silicone Supplier, COOPESA, Ten Orlich Precision, DIFACOM carbon fiber, L-3 Communications, Microfinish, Oberg Costa Rica, Okay Industries Costa Rica, Olympic Precision Machining, Optyma, Preinsa, Sensors Group Costa Rica, SERPIMETAL, Sertex Technical Services, Specialty Coating Systems Costa Rica, Techshop International Workshop González, TICO ELECTRONICS and Utitec Medical.
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