Example of Expatriates

Indicating the esteem El Salvador holds for the business prowess of its emigrants, diplomats and economic planners from the Central American country came a-courting their plucky expatriates Thursday, seeking help in carrying out the tiny nation’s ambitious development plans.

On hand for the start of a two-day networking conference at the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Los Angeles were the Salvadoran ambassador to the United States, the Los Angeles consul general and the nation’s foreign relations and economy ministers.

“It’s hard to believe this is all for us,� said local restaurateur and Salvadoran immigrant Mario Hernandez, among more than 300 who gathered to discuss ways to expand economic ties between the nation and Salvadorans here, most of whom came to the United States as refugees of a protracted civil war.

Although most economic summits center on ways to grow specific industries, the focus of the First Business and Trade Conference El Salvador-Los Angeles, though unorthodox, was hardly misplaced. Remittances--$1.2 billion annually--from Salvadoran immigrants to their families back home account for roughly 10% of the gross national product of their native land and generate three times more hard currency than the nation’s chief export of coffee, a recent economic survey by Monitor Co. concluded.

To build on those ties, the conference sought to lay groundwork to increase imports of Salvadoran products into the United States and boost immigrant investment in the country’s newly privatized electric and telecommunications companies and its pension fund.

“The emigrant community is an opportunity waiting to happen for El Salvador,� said Minister of the Economy Eduardo Zablah-Touche.

Los Angeles has the largest Salvadoran population outside El Salvador, and event organizers said that more than 150 participants hailed from the local Salvadoran business community. Another 30 or so came from Salvadoran communities in New York and Washington.

For local importer and Salvadoran immigrant Mario Ruiz, the conference held the promise of increasing business with his homeland. As it stands, the sales and marketing head of Sahuayo International deals in goods mainly from Mexico, with only a small percentage from El Salvador. Ruiz came to the conference Thursday looking to change that. By midday, he had set up meetings with five Salvadoran exporters looking to find buyers for coffee, candy and canned beans.

Other exporters also were eager to forge ties.

“We want to expand beyond El Salvador,� said Silvia de Aguirre, whose company, Provocaciones, sells modestly price women’s underwear in major supermarket chains in her country. “The market there is too limited for us.�