NEW YORK - NEW Yorkers will get a rare chance on Monday to take time to smell the roses when representatives of Colombia's flower industry will hand out more than 100,000 stems at some of the city's most hectic places.

The rosy scenario is set from 8.30am until 11am EST (12am Singapore time) in Times Square, Grand Central Station, Penn Station and on Wall Street.

The idea is to bring at least a whiff of relief, if not a smile, to New York commuters, shoppers and tourists coping with the worst economic downturn in the United States in nearly 80 years - and perhaps persuade them to treat themselves or someone else to fresh flowers every once in awhile.

'We're reminding consumers that despite a financial crisis they can afford small luxuries such as flowers,' Mr Augusto Solano, president of the Association of Colombian Flower Exporters, known as Asocolflores, told Reuters.

'Flowers have a positive emotional impact,' Mr Solano said, noting that's true especially 'at this time of year' when chilly temperatures and gray skies remind people that winter is just a few weeks away.

It's not altogether an altruistic effort, though.

Colombia is the No. 1 exporter of fresh-cut flowers to the United States. The South American country, perhaps better known for its coffee, is the world's second-largest exporter of fresh-cut flowers, ranking only behind the Netherlands.

In 2007, Colombia's US$1.1 billion (S$1.7 billion) flower industry exported more than 80 per cent of its products to the United States.

Mr Solano said he hopes to maintain that level of exports even during the coming year when forecasts for the US economy and consumer spending look grim.

'There's going to be a lot more competition for consumers' disposable income,' Mr Solano said, explaining the timing of the marketing campaign entitled Colombia: Land of Flowers.

Petals and Pesos
Colombia's petal diplomacy in New York follows the financial storm that began with the US mortgage market's collapse in 2007 and spread around the world, which prompted investors to pull money from emerging economies.

As investors withdrew dollars from these economies, the value of their local currency weakened. Colombia's peso has lost more than 13 per cent so far this year from its all-time high of 1,634 pesos (S$1.07) per dollar in late June.

For Asocolflores, which represents 317 flower growers, the peso's devaluation is favourable.

'We had an appreciation of the peso for five years, which put serious constraints on us because the manual labour costs remained high,' Mr Solano said.

'We are still far from the 3,000 pesos per dollar we had five years ago, but the current value at 2,300 is better than the 1,600 we had just few months ago,' he added.

The challenge will be to maintain the level of exports now that the currency has depreciated and consumers are less likely to spend on non-essential items such as flowers. So Asocolflores is working to diversify its market.

Colombian flowers have been gaining shelf space in Russia, Japan, South Korea, Hungary, Sweden and Britain. But Mr Solano said Asocolflores will keep looking to develop other markets that could compensate for a possible reduction in US demand and consumption.

'Any reduction in demand will bring job cuts, which in countries like ours would be very costly,' Mr Solano said.

The floriculture industry in Colombia creates 200,000 direct and indirect jobs with wages above the national rural average and nearly 1 million Colombians benefit from it, according to Asocolflores data.

The industry in this Andean nation is more than profit-oriented. It takes its social responsibility seriously by creating programmes for communities to handle conflicts non-violently, running day-care centres that benefit 18,000 children, and training a population that has been displaced by violence in the methods of intensive horticulture so they can find employment.

'By purchasing Colombian flowers, the consumer is contributing to improving living conditions of the most vulnerable groups,' Mr Solano said. -- REUTERS