Patricia Tovar A.
Executive Director, Cámara de Comercio Colombo Británica
We have been promoting the benefits of trade and business for 30 years. We have seen an increase in trade between the two countries over the last six or seven years, and a lot of companies from the finance, environment, security, and high-tech sectors have come knocking on our door. We have been introduced to most Colombian companies, and most of them have stayed. Oil and gas, as well as coal mining are also very important sectors. There has been a lot of interest from British companies supporting the oil and gas sector, including equipment, machinery, and tool manufacturers, and there are also two important laboratories here, including AstraZeneca, importing vaccines and medications for patients with cancer and HIV. In terms of exports, oil, gas, and coal dominate, and in non-traditional products there are fruits, exotic fruits, bananas, coffee, flowers, and palm oil, which is important in the UK market. We are trying to duplicate in the next few years the volume of commerce between the UK and Colombia.
Camilo Reyes RodrÃÂguez
Executive Director, AmCham Colombia
There are groups from the US that have come to Colombia to take advantage of the free trade agreement (FTA)—selling US products, finding partners, and buying Colombian products. The main sectors of interest are the extraction industry and related services, as well as the agricultural and food production industry. There is also a third area, which is the participation of US enterprises in bidding on infrastructure projects that this country has to develop. One of the main challenges for the Colombian government is to develop and supply the country with much-needed and large infrastructure projects. This is related mainly to roads, railroads, ports, and airports. In the past, foreign companies, except enterprises from the US, tended those projects. Considering the companies that have participated in the building and administration of large projects, it was mostly European companies—Spanish, Italian, German, Finnish—carrying out the work, and we saw very few US companies active in the country.
MarÃÂa Eugenia Lloreda P.
Executive Director, MarÃÂa Eugenia Lloreda P.
In the last two years, the goal has been to reposition Cali and Valle del Cauca as a destination for multinationals. Cali was, for a long time, the place where multinationals arrived in Colombia. People arrived for different reasons. The Buenaventura port was nearby, which was not so much for exporting because it was a closed economy but more for importing goods. This proximity to the port and the closeness to the Pacific was key. Another reason multinationals established operations in Cali was that there was a train that passed through Cali, and thirdly because there was already very strong local industrial development. If you compare Cali to Barranquilla, MedellÃÂn, and Bogotá, Cali is the youngest city of them all. In the 1920s, nobody knew Cali. It was Barranquilla, MedellÃÂn, and Bogotá that were the really important cities. Then, local industrialization attracted multinationals closer to the Pacific.
Enrique de Zabala Hartwig
Executive Director, Cámara de Comercio Hispano Colombiana
Colombia is a leading country in Latin America, and although it has considerably grown and evolved in the last decade, especially in terms of security, there is still much to be done. I personally believe that Colombia offers plenty of opportunities for Spanish companies that seek alternative markets outside of Europe. In addition, Colombia’s legal framework is very favorable for foreign investors, and both countries have signed important trade and legal agreements to boost Spanish investments. Legal security is one of the most important advantages of Colombia as an investment destination, as the World Bank recognized in one of its last reports. Furthermore, Colombia’s geostrategic location allows investors to easily enter other neighboring and regional markets and take advantage of several trade agreements Colombia has signed with countries like the US and Canada. Colombia has created a very favorable legal framework for foreign investors, because they see the arrival of FDI as a way of creating more jobs and reducing social and economic differences in society.
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