Latin American Motorcycling Congress

The Motorcycling Industry in Latin America mobilises over 50 million motorcycle users and has one of the best rates of sustained growth in comparison with any other industrial sector in the region.

At the present time, motorcycling accidents are the first cause of death on the job and absenteeism in Colombia, generating a major impact on company productivity.

Latin America is lagging a long way behind in the adoption of international standards for motorcycling, which translates into one of the highest levels of motorcycling accidents in comparison with the European continent.

High-level professionals and companies in the two-wheel sector met on 25 and 26 October in the Cartagena Convention Centre within the framework of the Latin American Congress for Motorcycling with the aim of meeting together the challenges of the sector and creating new opportunities to ensure the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the motorcycle industry.  

Damiano Zamana, FIM Programmes Director, gave the welcome address to the event and presented motorcycling as a sector of global significance, in a situation of constant growth and development. The inaugural address was given by José María Riaño, Secretary General of the Asociación Nacional de Empresas del Sector de las Dos Ruedas de España (ANESDOR) (Spanish National Association of Companies in the Two-Wheel sector), who explained to the audience the sector’s organisational model in Spain, invited to the event as guest country. The event featured a select group of speakers including Xavi Vallejo, President of Motoescuela, the largest motorcycle training school in Spain, Gato Barbery, Dakar rider and Motorcycling Journalist with the Fox Channel, Hilda Gomez, Director of the Agencia Nacional de Seguridad Vial (National Road Safety Agency) and Pedro Marún, President of the National Tradespersons Federation FENALCO.

This event, organised by the  Centro de Innovación para Motociclistas (Innovation Centre for Motorcyclists), brought together the stakeholders of motorcycling around a packed academic agenda that enabled those present to update their knowledge and familiarise themselves with themes such as innovation, marketing, motorcycle working, road safety, standard-setting and motorcycle sport, among others.

According to German Acevedo, Director of the Innovation Centre for Motorcyclists, such professional networking spaces are necessary to boost the economy, as they provide opportunities for companies to strike deals (B2B - Business to Business) and open up new communication channels between the business sector and the government (B2G - Business to Government), which are vital to generate public policies that recognise motorcyclists as a vector of the social economy that has become a sustainable means of transport for Latin America’s emerging middle class.