The Diplomat
The President of Colombia, Iván Duque, announced yesterday in a videoconference speech, an ambitious reform agenda focused on facilitating foreign investment. Among his objectives is the decarbonization of the country by 2050, the promotion of 20 fourth-generation road projects and the fifth generation of rail, river, port and airport projects.
During the inauguration of the 5th edition of the ‘Colombia Investment Roadshow’ at the CEOE headquarters in Madrid, Duque showed his satisfaction because “the more than 36,000 million dollars that Colombia has entered thanks to foreign direct investment since 2018 give good proof of the confidence placed by entrepreneurs and investors in the country”.
Colombia, he said, “maintains 17 trade agreements that give preferential access to more than 1.5 billion consumers“. And for this reason, he explained that strategies such as ‘Friendshoring’ and ‘Tapete rojo’ have been implemented to facilitate investors to settle in the country.
In addition, he added that Colombia also has a free trade zone regime that guarantees important tax incentives. “Our country offers clear rules, institutional solidity, talent, development and is an excellent gateway to Latin America,” he assured.
The Colombian economy grew by 10.6% in 2021 and is expected to grow by 5.8% in 2022, according to the president, for whom one of the keys is that “our country offers clear rules, institutional solidity, talent, development and is an excellent gateway to Latin America”.
For her part, the president of ProColombia, Flavia Santoro, said during the press conference that Colombia attaches great importance to cultural tourism, as another of the axes of its economic development. For this reason, she announced that a Promotion Plan for 6 macro-regions, including an investment guide for different projects, will be presented during the event.
In addition to Duque, the conference was inaugurated by the Vice President and Chancellor of the Republic, Marta Lucía Ramírez; the Colombian Minister of Infrastructure, Ángela María Orozco; the Spanish Secretary of State for Trade, Xiana Méndez; the President of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendi; the President of ProColombia, Flavia Santoro; and the President of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, José Luis Bonet.
