Latin America Initiative of German Business – LAI

The aim of the Latin America Initiative is to improve the overall image of the region in Germany and to safeguard and improve the position of German business, especially that of medium-sized enterprises.

The Latin America Initiative of German Business was founded in 1994 by the BDI, the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) and the Latin America Association (LAV). These were later joined by the Federation of German Wholesale and Foreign Trade (BGA) and the Association of German Banks (BdB).

The chairman of LAI is Dr. Reinhold Festge, managing director of Haver & Boecker OHG.

The aim of LAI was to concentrate and orientation for the various activities in Latin America and Germany. A Latin America discussion group (GLA) was accordingly set up and this meets on a regular basis. Its membership is made up of the German Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry for Economics, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the BDI, DIHK, BdB, BGA, LAV along with the spokesperson for the German Foreign Chambers of Commerce in Latin America.

About every two years the LAI stages the Latin America Conference of German Business and organizes visits by delegations and information events. The last Latin America Conference took place in Berlin on 15th and 16th April 2013.

Additional links

• Lateinamerika-Initiative der Deutschen Wirtschaft - LAI
• Deutscher Industrie- und Handelskammertag (DIHK)
• Lateinamerika Verein (LAV)
• Bundesverband des Deutschen Groß- und Außenhandels (BGA)
• Bundesverband deutscher Banken (BdB)
• Auswärtiges Amt
• BMWi
• BMZ
• Auslandshandelskammern
• Lateinamerika-Konferenz der deutschen Wirtschaft