Aptar, Mass Consumer and Medical Solution Custom-Packaging Manufacturer Sets up Operations in Valle del Cauca

APTAR has made in-roads into Colombia at the ‘Pacífico’ Free Trade Zone with a $6-million investment. The company generated 23 direct jobs (including one for an Argentine Ex-pat), and created nearly 120 indirect jobs  during its construction phase.

APTAR was founded in 1940 in the US and Germany. It currently has 56 plants around the world and its latest one in Cali is its 7th Latin American venture. Mexico has APTAR’s number 1 plant, Argentina its 2nd largest and Brazil its 3rd. APTAR Cali will house Latin America’s most state-of-the-art equipment – so cutting-edge, that the engineers hired to work directly for the company had to be trained abroad in several countries, including Italy, Brazil and Argentina.

The plant’s ribbon-cutting ceremony was presided over by Palmira Mayor, Jose Ritter, with the President for Latin America APTAR, Miguel Jacquet, Senior Project Manager for Latin America, Carlos García, General Manager for APTAR Cali, Carlos Ramiro, the Executive Director at Invest Pacific, María Eugenia Lloreda, and the General Manager at ‘Pacífico’ Free Trade Zone, Bertha Cecilia Rojas all in attendance. Set-up phase contractors were also present heralding from several construction and finishing companies to plant outfitting firms, banks executives and attorneys, as was APTAR’s new Cali staff.

Palmira Mayor, Jose Ritter welcomed the executives in attendance acknowledging their support for getting the company up and running in Palmira. “We are anxious to welcome new foreign investors like APTAR. And may I just note, the overriding factor for us is always the people. Investments like APTAR’s demonstrate the region’s potential. Development, tech transfer and a better job quality are beneficial for the region and bring greater stability,” Ritter said.

Carlos Ramiro, General Manager at APTAR Cali, stated, “we’ve got an excellent staff, really top-notch people, who form the very DNA of our company. They began work with no office, and an unfinished plant, exhibiting great professionalism and the know-how essential for erecting both our corporate and physical pillars to launch one of APTAR Group’s most important plants”.

Miguel Jacquet stated that APTAR’s USD$6-million investment is projected for 2015, and “our goal is to get the Andean-market Cali plant to serve as a regional platform to meet the needs of our current Health & Beauty segment clients going forward, not to mention our Food & Beverage clients. We are also aiming at expansion to reach new clients with new pharmaceutical sector products. We believe in our staff’s ability to make a difference even when the plant, as such, is small in comparison to others around Latin America, because of its major growth potential”.

Among APTAR’s major clients are companies, such as Belcorp, Yanbal, Nestlé, La Costeña, Pepsico, Recalcine, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson. APTAR’s machinery is the best in Latin America, completely automated and will initially meet the needs of the Andean region body cream and perfume dispenser market from the city of Cali.

María Eugenia Lloreda, Executive Director at Invest Pacific said, “this is a great achievement for us, and APTAR is a great company for Valle del Cauca, especially because we were able to overcome the negative perception barrier that hung over our region. Once APTAR’s upper-level executives came and got a first-hand look at Valle del Cauca and the existing robust national and international business network for APTAR’s 3 branches of industry (all currently manufacturing, selling domestically and exporting throughout the Pacific Basin), they knew Valle del Cauca was the very best location to expand their operations.”

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For further information, please contact:
Victoria Eugenia Molina
Communications and Marketing Coordinator at Invest Pacific
Landline: 893-7882
Mobile: 300-823-4403 or 318-871-8762
www.investpacific.org