José Pelaez
Regional Director, Sacyr
Most of the projects we have in Colombia are long term. We are a private company developing and investing in infrastructure projects; therefore, our commitment in Colombia is derived from the type of projects we are facing. At the moment, we are in 25-year concession projects in which Sacyr is investing EUR400 million and involving financial institution for additional EUR1.6 billion. For a company building concession project, resiliency is a necessity. The two main markets in Latin America are Colombia and Mexico. Both are similar for the volume of investment they need and the infrastructure programs they are deploying, but Chile is still our main market because we have been there since 1996. Our main clients here in Colombia are public, and our responsibilities are more and the scope that the public sector assigns to contractors in Colombia is bigger than other markets. In Mexico, Sacyr mainly is a pure constructor; in Colombia the contractor has to manage, build operations, design, expropriations, local communities, environmental licenses, and so on.
Jesús Rodríguez Robles
General Manager, Devimar
The initiative for the infrastructure and roads associated with the 4G project is an opportunity to restructure our transportation sector and get the proper network of roads that, due to many problems over time, have suffered from a serious deficiency. Now is the time to reshape the territory and connect producers with customers at principal points such as ports and airports in order to build efficiency, improve business, and reduce the cost of logistics in the country. Our mission is to be a reference in developing and managing road infrastructure, not just in Medellín, but all over Colombia. Our shareholders are some of the leading construction companies in the world, and that guarantees that we can develop, build, and manage the best roads. Our shareholders have different projects all over the country, and they are implementing their know-how and technologies in all the projects they are developing in Colombia. Hence, we are putting our strengths together to improve how infrastructure projects are developed and managed.
Carlos Eduardo Angel Toro
General Manager, Carlos Eduardo Angel Toro
This is a family company that has been in the market for 32 years. Our specialty is the construction of infrastructure projects, such as tunnels, bridges, roads, and hydroelectric plants; we have participated in some of the largest projects in Colombia, such as the Buenavista tunnel, La Línea tunnel, and Occidente tunnel, and we are currently working in the Toyo tunnel. We are also experienced in small hydroelectric projects and have built seven throughout Colombia. 2017 was an extremely tough year for all the industry. However, we participated in several bids and were granted projects to be built during the next two years that have a commercial value of approximately a USD100 million. These projects include the construction of four tunnels that have a total length of 9km, six bridges, and a hydroelectric plant. Estyma has had the fortune of building more tunnels in this country than any other company, and after this 4G program ends we need to invest in the development of rural regions by building tertiary roads.
José Ortiz
General Manager, Joyco
The bidding processes slows down fairly significantly during an election year and the year after, and we expect this to hold true in this election cycle. However, there are big projects already in the pipeline. In Bogotá we have the metro project that will provide plenty of work for those who won the supervision, construction, and supply chain. In addition, Peñalosa has awarded a number of design contracts this year and will award the construction contracts possibly by the end of 2018 or next year. We have business relationships with the main clients in Colombia, namely the National Infrastructure Agency; INVIAS, the highway agency in Colombia; and the city of Bogotá. We deal with asset management and look after a number of road networks in Colombia. We have also entered into the supervision of technology projects. In transport, there is Transmilenio, which is the operation of a public transport system. We are currently submitting bids for works in the sewer system in Bogotá and clean water provision in the city.
Felipe Encinales
President, Inverlink
We are a group of three companies: an investment bank, a real estate company, and Ashmore Inverlink, which is a private equity fund to invest in infrastructure. The Ashmore Group is the largest private equity fund investing in emerging markets in the world. We have a fund that is fully invested, which is a little more than USD200 million. In addition, we are well ahead in the fundraising of the second fund. Finally, we also have a USD400-million bond fund that is developing strongly. We have three development funds. One was the office building in Calle 26, which is the avenue that goes to the airport, though we are already in exit mode as we sold it. We have another developing project that is also an office building targeted to a specific niche, namely BPO call centers, and is in the Bogotá Free Zone. Finally, we invested in a company that develops strip malls in Panama.
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