In cooperation with the Planning Department of the City Government of Bogotá (DAPD), the LAC Office implemented a series of ten workshops from October 2004 to February 2005 aimed at disseminating information and training of local entrepreneurs of the Bogotá-Cundinamarca Region to enable them to gain greater awareness and take advantage of the opportunities offered by trade agreements, and to manage strategies, procedures, and mechanisms of access to international markets. The programme was addressed to export managers or managers with export potential that could benefit from trade agreements, decision-makers such as managers of regional enterprises that produce goods and services in Bogotá and Cundinamarca, and owners/managers of micro-, small- and medium-size enterprises. Five workshops were held in Bogotá, and five in selected municipalities of Cundinamarca. Participation amounted to 732 people.

Foreign trade presents one of the main opportunities for economic growth, allowing regional economies to become more competitive and increase employment. The possibilities of developing regional economies like Bogotá-Cundinamarca's are dependant on these agreements, and in the way the city region is integrated in the intracontinental economic structure. The study "Assessment of the Planning Department of the City Government of Bogotá (DAPD), possibilities of the Bogotá-Cundinamarca Region in the context of Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA)", prepared by DAPD identifies the challenges and opportunities of exports and the industrial structure of Bogotá-Cundinamarca from the viewpoint of the US market, with the benefits available to Colombia through the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA)/ATPDEA. This study identifies 593 potential products in Bogotá-Cundinamarca, 153 of which are exported by air, determining the importance of an air terminal for the region. If proper advantage is taken of these opportunities, exports could grow by between 27 per cent and 57 per cent. This situation could at least double the growth rate of regional GDP.

This programme was implemented as the continuation of a series of training activities that were initiated with the programme for training and dissemination of information on negotiating positions and strategies of the Bogotá-Cundinamarca region in the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) in 2003.