Marcel Lebleu, Canadian Ambassador to Colombia
Has the internet played against you? You’re not alone. The internet connection played a trick on Marcel Lebleu, Canadian ambassador to Colombia, in Procolombia’s round of distance talks, an event aimed at promoting international trade with key partners, such as Canada.
Canada was the special guest country in the Procolombia discussion, so Ambassador Lebleu was one of the first to take the floor to highlight the FTA between the two countries and the trade relations between both nations.
When the Canadian ambassador spoke of the benefits of the Colombia-Canada bilateral relationship, he had some connection problems. But, in a short time, he was able to reconnect and continued with the video call.
Lebleu asked to put a video, which did not appear, and thought that once again he had a technical problem and that no one was watching. But on the other side, businessmen and women, business leaders and President Iván Duque followed his movements.
Thus – thinking that no one was seeing him – Ambassador Lebleu was very upset. He covered his face, stood up from his chair, threw the documents in his hand on the desk angrily, and walked away from the camera, all while the other participants in the video call watched him.
Flavia Santoro, the director of Procolombia and moderator of the meeting, explained to Lebleu that everyone was still watching and listening, so he finished his speech again.
The video has already gone viral as it is one of the videoconferencing disasters that has arisen since the Covid-19 pandemic has forced meetings to be held remotely.
Commercial momentum
The 2021 edition of Procolombia, which takes place from April 12 to 23, involves about a thousand companies from 62 participating countries that will meet virtually with some two thousand potential partners from 26 departments in Colombia.
In the event, which is estimated to generate about 13 thousand virtual appointments, companies mainly from Canada, the United States, Peru, Guatemala, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Bolivia and Spain participate that want to know the Colombian offer of products and services in Cundinamarca, Antioquia, Valle del Cauca, Atlántico, Santander, Risaralda, Caldas and Norte de Santander.
For years, ProColombia has been the most important business meeting in the South American country and a cornerstone for boosting non-mining exports from Colombia. Santoro explained that the wheel seeks to encourage commercial exchange between Canada and Colombia.
