LIDITEC Takes Another Step in Its International Growth with a Business Tour of Panama and Ecuador

During September 2023, a delegation from our company visited these countries to participate in business matchmaking sessions, workshops, meetings with potential customers, and other activities.

With 20 years of experience in the Chilean market designing and manufacturing clinical space dividers and furniture, LIDITEC is taking another step in its international growth. Panama City was the first stop on this tour, hosting the 2023 Latam Business Meeting, organized by ProChile. The event brought together representatives from 18 markets and more than 100 importers. 

LIDITEC General Manager Paulette Lisham and Operations Manager Alex Valenzuela, traveled to the meeting as part of the healthcare segment. There, they interacted with representatives from 10 Latin American countries and introduced the company’s main products. 

In addition, they held meetings with interested importers to discuss the advantages of LIDITEC’s high-hygiene space dividers. The products’ innovation and technology generated strong interest during these meetings. 

Accelerating Internationalization: Lessons and Perspectives from Panama

Paulette Lisham emphasized the importance of the Panama experience for LIDITEC’s development, as it was the first initiative of its kind for the company. 

“Without a doubt, this meeting accelerated our internationalization process. It provided valuable new knowledge about networking and building relationships with different customers. We received feedback very useful feedback and exchanged ideas to refine our offering. Before attending, we completed several initiatives to support these relationships, including preparing meetings, developing a presentation pitch, and creating promotional materials,” she noted.

To gain a deeper understanding of the culture of the country, the LIDITEC team attended the talk “How to Do Business with Chile”, and visited the Panama Canal, the historic district, and other tourist attractions.

Ecuador: A New Landscape of Opportunities for LIDITEC

The LIDITEC team also visited Ecuador to meet prospective customers at hospitals and healthcare centers in Quito, as well as visit ProChile’s offices. They also held business meetings with potential distributors in Guayaquil. 

“We decided to visit this country because it has an approach similar to Chile’s regarding the importance of protecting patient privacy in healthcare—a challenge addressed by our space dividers,” explained the General Manager. During these meetings, each counterpart expressed interest in staying in contact with LIDITEC and continuing to receive information with a view to future business.

All these meetings were made possible through prior contact and collaboration with an Ecuadorian law firm.

Following this experience, one of LIDITEC’s immediate challenges is to plan the logistics for distributing its products in Ecuador and establish local brand representatives responsible for installation and after-sales service.

Lessons for LIDITEC’s Future in 2024

This experience offers many lessons for the company in 2024, particularly recognizing cultural differences in the countries visited, understanding how they affect business negotiations, and appreciating the importance of building lasting ties with potential customers and industry peers.

“We have learned the critical importance of maintaining strong and consistent relationships,” emphasized Paulette Lisham, noting that the tour gave the team tools to segment opportunities and be selective when identifying strategic partners. “This selectivity will allow us to focus more effectively on our primary goal: expanding our export business and cultivating lasting business relationships”, she concluded.

This trip was funded by the Corfo project “EXPANDING HIGH-HYGIENE SPACE DIVIDERS (SAH) TO PERU AND ECUADOR” (code 22CYE2-214220).