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The president of Colombia’s largest employer organisation, ANDI, called for Colombia’s politicians to “end confrontations and differences” during a conference on improving Colombia’s competiveness.

Luis Carlos Villegas expressed concerns that the on-going political confrontation between President Santos and former presidents Pastrana and Uribe had a negative effect on the Colombian economy and played into the hands of extremists.

He called for unity amongst political leaders, stating that “division benefits organized crime and…creates opportunities for terrorism and a fall in security”.

Villegas fears that confrontation between political leaders could have a negative effect and will play into the hands of extremists is evidence of the bizarre immaturity of Colombia’s democracy – a theme central to Colombia Politics´ analysis.

Put frankly, confrontation between political figures and the challenging of policy is at the heart of any healthy democracy and needn’t play into the hands of extremist groups. What´s more, the lack of credible an organised opposition to the government within the Colombian Congress is a weakness, not a strength, of the Colombian political system.

A challenging year ahead

Turning to economic matters, Villegas spoke of a challenging year ahead for the Colombian economy, stating that though domestic demand has been weakened and the world economy is unstable, “this does not mean we have to resign ourselves to another bad year industry.”

Villegas claimed that the Colombian government must focus on improving its competiveness in order to offset the effect of challenging global economic conditions. Colombia’s economic competitiveness – though improving – lags behind a number of countries in the region. According to a report last year by the Consejo Privado de Competitividad, Colombia has ”fallen short in actions required to improve the competitiveness of the economy” and that as a result “remained stagnant in international indexes such as that of the World Economic Forum”.

Villegas highlighted lowering energy costs, fostering investment in modernising plants and machinery, as well as a monetary policy that is conducive to investment and growth as areas that the Colombian government should address.

Colombian Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas welcomed the proposals and what he called the “critical input”, adding that “the government is preparing an emergency plan to boost especially two sectors: industry and agriculture”.

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