Cessi and Fedesoft Sign Joint Promotion Partnership

IT industry associations in Argentina and Colombia have teamed up to jointly promote IT and outsourcing companies in their respective countries, building on the growth achieved in the past few years. Exchanging experts and persuading member firms to launch joint-development programs are the key components of the agreement signed at an event organized by the Federation of Latin America in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo.

Analysts have described the agreement as a “brilliant game plan,” because both Argentina’s IT industry association (CESSI) and its Colombian counterpart (Fedesoft) have already made commendable headway in promoting the IT services sector. Analysts believe the agreement will go a long way toward helping both countries to sustain growth and move up the value chain in Latin America’s IT services sector.

As the deal is designed to foster a culture of friendship and joint development, IT companies in both countries can now work together helping each other in exploring opportunities in each other’s territory.

“Our goal as industry chamber is to work with the software industry to grow exponentially in both our countries and the region as a whole,” said Vanessa Lucchesi, executive director of CESSI, adding that many Argentine companies were showing interest in exploring the Colombian IT market.

Argentina’s IT export revenue is expected to increase 11% in 2013, and the lobby group says the future is brighter still for its member companies. The country’s software industry registered more than 10% growth in 2012 and generated more than US$900 million in export revenue.

“Argentina is a major trading partner for Colombia and is one of the countries in the region where information technology industry is growing rapidly. We want to work together to strengthen our capabilities,” said Paola Restrepo Ospina, executive chairperson of Fedesoft.

In recent years, Colombia has achieved significant success in developing its IT industry. According to Fedesoft, the country’s IT industry grew 27% between 2011 and 2012, reaching $7.6 billion in sales.

In the days ahead, the two associations plan to organize symposiums, seminars and trade fairs in each other’s territory, in addition to sharing information on tax legislation and other governmental issues.