Tecnoglass was present at the forum “Growing up with ambition, focus, resilience” organized by BANCOLDEX, which took place at the Julio Mario Santo Domingo Theater in Bogota.
Christian Daes, company president, was invited to participate in the panel: “Companies and regions that dare to compete to grow”
The BANCOLDEX Forum is a meeting which aims to introduce the successful experiences of Colombian entrepreneurs who have dared to grow with innovative and different approaches.
With 60% of its sales concentrated in the US and Panama, Tecnoglass remains committed to the US market
Tecnoglass, the only Colombian company listed on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange in New York, aims to make Barranquilla into the “world window capital”, as said today the company president, Christian Daes.
Specialized in the production of glass, facade design and the manufacture of windows, Tecnoglass sales in 2014 reached 505 billion pesos (US $ 208 million) and, in 2016, expects a turnover of one trillion pesos (about 411 million dollars).
Tecnoglass manufactures architectural glass, windows and aluminum products for industrial, residential and commercial building projects. During 2013 Tecnoglass recorded consolidated revenues, including those of its affiliates, for $ 183 million and $ 133 million in 2012.
“Our motto and our aim is to make Barranquilla into the world window capital and we are headed in that direction” as said by DAES to Colombia.inn operated by the Efe agency, who spoke today at a meeting in Bogota in a presentation of the new strategy by the Bancóldex Group.
According to the entrepreneur, the firm, founded in 1994, has generated 4,500 jobs, while it has led the region to develop a line of suppliers of products and services to process 140 tons of glass daily.
“There is a whole infrastructure around us: we move 7,500 containers per year and therefore carriers have benefited and have grown by our side”, said Daes, noting that they also work with companies that manufacture the crates for transport and customs services, among others.
With 60% of its sales concentrated in the US and Panama, Tecnoglass remains committed to the US market and continues manufacturing in the country, with the incorporation of technologies that allow them to rely “less on imports”.
“Entrepreneurs often want to sell what they have and don’t want to create an industry around what customers need, that has been our strength in Tecnoglass” where “we have fitted a whole infrastructure around what the (North) American market needs in windows”, Daes said.
The company, whose entry into Nasdaq leveraged US $40 million for its expansion plans, counts among its works the El Dorado Airport in Bogotá, the Trump Plaza (Panama) and the Trump Tower (Miami) as well as other buildings in countries like Bolivia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Singapore.
Source: Economy Section, El Heraldo