(Potosi) Getting to know the employers association of Potosi

In November 2013 Peter Boorsma, special advisor of DECP, visited the Federación de Empresarios Privados of in the Bolivian region Potosí (FEPP) for the first time with the objective to get a picture of its strengths and weaknesses. He found a representative and dynamic organisation and was impressed by the variety of sources of revenues of the FEPP such as e.g. trade fairs.

The FEPP is looking  for larger grounds for the next edition of the yearly trade fair Fiposí. The latest edition in November was held in a football stadium that is too small to accommodate the demand for stands. Fiposí is just one of the activities that generates revenues for the organization and that makes it less dependent on the contributions of its members.

In Bolivia fairs are both for the public as for the business market. There was also a section for food and drinks, a fair for small businesses and a part of the municipality. Phone companies, banks, cars and machinery for construction works as well as a local television station. Potosí is the capital of a Bolivian region of the same name at a height of 4.000 meters. Its economy depends heavily on mining.

DECP and FEPP will examine opportunities for further cooperation.