Sweet smell of success.

• Author: Goethals, Henry
• Position: Colombia's flowers

Colombia's fast-growing fresh-cut flower exports exude the sweet fragrance of economic success. Taking full advantage of entrepeneurial expertise and geographic location, Colombian growers have expanded export sales of fresh-cut flowers from a mere US$1 million in 1970 to about US$220 million in 1989. From 1970 to 1980, flower exports increased ten-fold, to US$100 million, and then doubled again in the next eight years to reach US$206 by the end of 1988. In the process, the country has become the principal exporter of flowers to the United States and the second ranking flower exporting country in the world.

Coffee is still king of Colombia's foreign trade, representing almost 30 percent...