Forget Colombia's past. Colombia is now a top destination for investment. The security problems of the 1990s and early 2000s kept foreigners away and investment artificially low. That has changed and Colombia is a fast emerging market - attracting 10 billion dollars of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) this year.
Why Colombia?
Colombia is part of the CIVET group of countries - the next growth economies after the BRIC nations. For EFT investors Colombia has even outperformed BRIC countries over the last two years.
Colombia has a young population, with a well educated and large middle-class.
Standard and Poor's and Moody's have both awarded Colombia investor grade credit rating.
The economy has continued on a sustained growth path with a decade average annual increase of over 4%. This year Colombia's economy looks set to grow by < 5%. Per Capita GDP has doubled in the last ten years.
Colombia has never defaulted on its debt, inflation is low, and stable, and the Santos government has written tight fiscal responsibility rules into the constitution. The World Bank considers Colombia a safer financial bet than some of the world's largest economies - including France's.
Imports and exports
Colombia's FDI this year is expected to be over 10 billion dollars. Exports are forecast to be as high as 43 billion dollars. FDI has increased 300% over the last five years, and in three years exports have doubled.
Colombia is perhaps most famous for being the top exporter of coffee. Traditional markets also include flowers, textiles and bananas. It is also gold rich and is the largest exporter of emeralds.
Following pro-business policies pursued by the Colombian government, the country is now Latin America's fourth largest oil producer, and the world's fifth largest coal exporter. Colombia is the US's third largest oil supplier.
The top three investor countries between 2000 and 2010, were, USA, the United Kingdom, and Spain.
Colombia has free trade agreements with 48 countries close to completion or already in force. This gives the country preferential access to over 1,500 million consumers. Agreements with Switzerland and Canada came into force this year. The FTAs with the US and the EU are awaiting ratification by the respective national institutions. The activation of these two agreements will accelerate exponentially Colombia's growth.
The democratic security, and liberal economic policies pursued by former president, Alvaro Uribe during his eight years in power (2002-2010) have transformed the image of the country abroad creating not only a safe but also a profitable place to invest.
This website will report on important economic and investment stories - as it believes that economics and politics go hand-in-hand. Keep coming back to find out the latest information.
Key articles on this website
http://www.colombia-politics.com/2011/09/world-bank-colombias-economy-safer-than.html
http://www.colombia-politics.com/2011/09/while-world-economies-lose-heads.html
http://www.colombia-politics.com/2011/11/british-eye-colombia-as-santos-pro.html
Why Colombia?
Colombia is part of the CIVET group of countries - the next growth economies after the BRIC nations. For EFT investors Colombia has even outperformed BRIC countries over the last two years.
Colombia has a young population, with a well educated and large middle-class.
Standard and Poor's and Moody's have both awarded Colombia investor grade credit rating.
The economy has continued on a sustained growth path with a decade average annual increase of over 4%. This year Colombia's economy looks set to grow by < 5%. Per Capita GDP has doubled in the last ten years.
Colombia has never defaulted on its debt, inflation is low, and stable, and the Santos government has written tight fiscal responsibility rules into the constitution. The World Bank considers Colombia a safer financial bet than some of the world's largest economies - including France's.
Imports and exports
Colombia's FDI this year is expected to be over 10 billion dollars. Exports are forecast to be as high as 43 billion dollars. FDI has increased 300% over the last five years, and in three years exports have doubled.
Colombia is perhaps most famous for being the top exporter of coffee. Traditional markets also include flowers, textiles and bananas. It is also gold rich and is the largest exporter of emeralds.
Following pro-business policies pursued by the Colombian government, the country is now Latin America's fourth largest oil producer, and the world's fifth largest coal exporter. Colombia is the US's third largest oil supplier.
The top three investor countries between 2000 and 2010, were, USA, the United Kingdom, and Spain.
Colombia has free trade agreements with 48 countries close to completion or already in force. This gives the country preferential access to over 1,500 million consumers. Agreements with Switzerland and Canada came into force this year. The FTAs with the US and the EU are awaiting ratification by the respective national institutions. The activation of these two agreements will accelerate exponentially Colombia's growth.
The democratic security, and liberal economic policies pursued by former president, Alvaro Uribe during his eight years in power (2002-2010) have transformed the image of the country abroad creating not only a safe but also a profitable place to invest.
This website will report on important economic and investment stories - as it believes that economics and politics go hand-in-hand. Keep coming back to find out the latest information.
Key articles on this website
http://www.colombia-politics.com/2011/09/world-bank-colombias-economy-safer-than.html
http://www.colombia-politics.com/2011/09/while-world-economies-lose-heads.html
http://www.colombia-politics.com/2011/11/british-eye-colombia-as-santos-pro.html
More articles like this should spread around the internet. Colombia needs and deserves investments. If you're an investor, do the right thing and it will pay off in dividends.
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