ProCórdoba Agency's Business Intelligence Department to launch the Export Development Program for the health sector.

The Business Intelligence Service is designed to help companies in our province to position their products in strategic markets. It seeks to achieve a medium- and long-term vision of the export activity of each industrial sector in different potential markets, in order to prepare our province's export offer for global demands.

At present it is offered to companies in the dairy, milling, pasta & baking, auto parts, rubber & plastics, agricultural machinery and software sectors. The Agency conducts a study of the local offer in each sector it works with, as well as a detailed analysis of the variables that directly affect business activities. ProCórdoba is a pioneer in this kind of research, and the information gathered is used to develop an Export Development Program specifically designed to face the needs of each sector.

During 2019 ProCórdoba worked together with other institutions and chambers such as the Córdoba Chamber of Health Industries (in Spanish, CAISAL) to conduct business intelligence studies on Cordobese health sector companies. After gaining a thorough knowledge of the local offer, it moved on to identify strategic markets for said offer, through an analysis of databases with information about imports/exports, economic, commercial and infrastructure variables, and specific aspects of the sector. The countries identified as strong destinations for Cordobese products of the health sector were: Chile, Mexico, Peru, Colombia and Costa Rica. CAISAL and the firms invited to the presentation of this list endorsed the proposed destinations.

Getting Ready for the Launch

In the last stages in the process and before officially launching this Export Development Program in 2020, the Business Intelligence professionals are still preparing in order to be at their best, once the program is implemented, to respond to the export requirements of local companies. As part of the preparation, the professionals met with certifying organizations based in Buenos Aires to learn about the process and steps to be followed in order to obtain the ISO 13485 certification and CE marking (required by the European Union).

They also visited Lenor, a firm devoted to testing different products. They focused particularly on electromagnetic compatibility test procedures, which are fundamental for companies in the health sector. Specialists also taught them about semi anechoic chambers. As for electromagnetic compatibility, Lenor is the only firm that has been authorized to conduct the pertaining tests by the Argentine Accreditation Organization. The firm has subsidiaries in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, which is why tests conducted in Argentina are also valid in those countries.

The Business Intelligence Department continues to work on coordinating meetings of the sort in order to gather more and more information and select the most appropriate tool for the Export Development Program to be launched next year.