Cosmetics and Cleaning Industry Come Together

Strong Interest from Latin America in Turkish Companies

Within the scope of the "Cosmeet Latam 2020 Virtual Trade Mission" organized by the Istanbul Chemical Substances and Products Exporters Association (İKMİB) for the Latin American market between 23-27 November 2020, 175 bilateral business meetings were held. The Cosmeet Latam Virtual Trade Mission, organized to develop export markets for companies operating in the cosmetics, personal care and household cleaning sectors that are members of İKMİB and especially to support companies' entry into Colombia and other Latin American countries, was held between 23-27 November 2020 with the participation of 18 manufacturer and exporter companies. Prior to the mission, a webinar was held on 19 November to share all details of the program, the format of meetings and technical requirements with participants. The Cosmeet Latam Virtual Trade Mission, which was attended by 30 buyer companies from 11 different countries based in Latin America, particularly Colombia, Mexico and Panama, resulted in 175 bilateral business meetings.

İKMİB Board Chairman Adil Pelister, providing information about Cosmeet, which is a project of İKMİB, stated: "Cosmeet is the trade and purchasing mission program of our Association for the cosmetics and cleaning sector. The purchasing mission was first organized under the name Cosmeet Istanbul in 2017 in Istanbul.

As a continuation of the sectoral mission we held in the Latin American market in 2019, which was successful, this time we aimed to conduct business meetings in a virtual environment with buyers of similar profile. This year we held the Cosmeet Latam Virtual Trade Mission for Latin American countries. Training was provided to all our participating companies before the bilateral business meetings. Additionally, specifically for the program, we created a webpage at www.cosmeetlatam.com in Spanish and Portuguese (for the Brazilian market) to introduce our companies," he said. Noting that companies participating in the bilateral business meetings, which were held via the Zoom platform with Spanish and English interpreters, were satisfied with the mission program and the meetings, Pelister stated: "Our companies expressed that they viewed this activity positively, especially during the pandemic period. Since sectoral trade fairs were postponed in 2020 and uncertainties persisted for 2021, it is considered that conducting bilateral business meetings through a virtual platform during such a period was beneficial for both parties. Our Turkish companies received strong interest from buyers in Latin America. We observed that interest was particularly high in product categories such as skin care products and color cosmetics. From this perspective, we can say that it is important for our companies to diversify their product categories and strengthen their competitive advantages. In an environment where we are undergoing digital transformation and organizing virtual trade fairs and missions, it is of great importance that our companies improve their technical infrastructure," he concluded.