A trade mission from Costa Rica visited Expoindustria 2024, which was held in Guayaquil, where the latest advances in technology were shown, including artificial intelligence and digital transformation.
Zico walked through the halls of Expoindustria 2024. He lay down, stood on two legs, stole the glances and even the affection of the visitors and exhibitors of the more than 110 companies that met at the Hilton Colón hotel in Guayaquil (Ecuador). ) to showcase their latest advancements in technology, including Artificial Intelligence and digital transformation.
His owner, Marcelo Ortiz, general manager of Artil Robotics, commented that he named him Zico in honor of a dog he had when he was little, but the difference is that this Zico is not a dog like his predecessor, or at least it is not from flesh and blood, because if it is a dog but a robot, imported by Artil Robotics from China, it is the GO 2 Air model from Unitree Robotics.
The company Artil Robotics is dedicated to advanced robotics, they develop the software and “provide sufficient intelligence” to the robots that matter, said Ortiz while guiding Zico with his cell phone that can be used for commercial issues, brand promotion, dissemination of events, but also in inspections and monitoring on security issues.
“These robots are at the frontier of knowledge, many softwares are being developed for the use of these robots in more advanced applications,” Ortiz highlighted. Artil Robotics is the legal representative of Unitree Robotics in Ecuador and is responsible for the support and maintenance of the equipment.
These technological products caught the attention of several businessmen, not only national but also foreign, including a trade mission that arrived from Costa Rica. According to Francico Jarrín, president of the Chamber of Industries of Guayaquil (CIG), organizer of Expoidustrias 2024, Costa Rican businessmen are looking for opportunities within the framework of the trade agreement that is about to come into force, after it was approved by the National Assembly in Ecuador and the parliament of Costa Rica.
Ortiz pointed out that Costa Rican businessmen were interested in the management of robotic arms that can be used for various applications in production or assembly lines. “Normally we provide consulting services to the company, detecting bottlenecks, processes that can be robotized, and repetitive tasks that require intelligence,” explained the legal representative of Artil Robotics.
Another company in which Caribbean businessmen showed interest was Eva Engineering, which has been offering engineering, equipment manufacturing, automation and industrial assembly services for 14 years. However, its CEO Alejandro Narváez indicated that as a goal for 2025 the firm seeks to gain a foothold in automation in industrial robotics.
He highlighted that within engineering projects, as a work tool, the company has been using augmented reality for about 6 years. This allows the project to be built to be virtually projected in the place to be built and in real time. This tool is used through augmented reality glasses with which clients can examine every detail of the project. “It is an immersion methodology, the client enters his project, he will be able to walk, he will begin to generate changes,” explained Narváez.
Another application of augmented reality is the technical service provided to machines that are in other countries. “The machines sometimes suffer stoppages or need maintenance and production cannot stop, so our clients and our technician in Ecuador put on their glasses and connect to the Internet and it is as if I were standing next to them.”
He added that they are also working on the development of two projects with artificial intelligence. One is to generate an intelligent chat that resolves all customer doubts in case of equipment failures and the second is artificial visualization that will allow a robot to identify the elements through vision in order to pack a product. "For example, if we have a row of 100 shrimp and not all of them are for export, the robot will be able to choose the best shrimp to export."
Regarding Costa Rica, he pointed out that everything that has to do with technology, metalworking, and manufacturing will enter that market with zero tariffs once the agreement is in force. “That's where we come in, we generate the engineering, the technologies that are there, and this agreement drives us a lot because we don't have tariffs, they give us a free zone and we have preferential treatment to establish a company there,” Narváez said.
Free zones are among the possible benefits of a trade agreement
The benefits of free zones can also be attractive in Ecuador for businessmen from Costa Rica, said Holger Ramos, who promoted the Progreso Free Zone at Expoindustria, located in Buenos Aires, on the Guayaquil-Salinas highway, in the province of Santa Elena. . “We have a concession, we are the administrators of the free zone and we already have some developed infrastructure,” said the businessman.
They are waiting for the State to qualify the first operator to begin the development of the footage that they are going to require, which will be ready in six or seven months. Ramos highlighted the boost given by the coming into effect in December of the Economic Efficiency and Employment Generation Law that made this new customs regime for free zones viable and generated benefits that did not exist before, such as the shielding of tax incentives for the development of the free zones and the expansion of the range of activities towards professional services such as companies in the fields of auditing, consulting, telecommunications, medical assistance, among others.
Ramos assured that it would be very beneficial for Costa Rican businessmen to settle in a free zone in Ecuador, because this type of schemes are export-oriented and in Costa Rica the free zones are specialized in call center services, administration and inventory management. .
“This would be complementary for us because by having the facility of a treaty we can not only enter with primary goods, but also with semi-industrialized goods, make services... that an Ecuadorian industrialist can settle in a free zone of Costa Rica can already happen. or that they settle in a free zone of Ecuador can happen, everything will depend on the competitive and comparative advantages.”
