Reasons to invest

"Colombians have high level of entrepreneurial and managerial spirit. Our working team, mostly composed of locals, at BBVA, could be the envy of any bank in the world. We are proud of our human talent and the country has much more human resources to offer"

Luis Bernardo Fitero President BBVA Colombia

1. Macroeconomic Stability

• One of the most stable economies in Latin America.
• Steady economic growth, above the Latin American average.
• Growth rate of 3.96% in 2004.
• Declining inflation over the past few years, reaching 5.5% in 2004.
• Declining foreign debt.

2. Long-Standing, Stable Democracy

• Colombia has enjoyed an uninterrupted democracy except for a four-year period in the 1950s.

3. Competitive and Highly Skilled Labor Force

• Colombia’s workforce is considered the best in the Andean Community and it is among the most qualified in Latin America for managerial, operational and technical positions.
• The adult literacy rate in Colombia is one of the highest in Latin America.
• Colombia’s workforce is competitive in terms of labor costs. Services salaries and hourly manufacturing wages are highly competitive in Colombia compared to other developing and developed countries. 
• Human capital development in Colombia, particularly at the professional level, does not discriminate against women.

4. Flexible Labor Regime

Colombia has one of the most flexible labor regimes in Latin America:

• Regular working shift between 6 a.m. to 10 p.m for a 48-hour workweek, which reduces overtime and extra night time pays for companies needing to employ workers for two shifts.
• Companies can reduce labor costs by hiring apprentices under service contracts.
• Reduced compensation levels for dismissal without just cause.

5. Strategic Location

• Located at the midway point between North and South America.
• The only country in South America with Atlantic and Caribbean coasts.
• Easy access to North American, European, Asian and Latin American markets.

6. Export Platform and Privileged Access to World Markets

Free Trade Agreements:

• Forthcoming FTA with the US
• Andean Community, CAN (Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Perú and Venezuela)
• Group of Three, G3 (Colombia, Mexico and Panama)
• CAN - MERCOSUR
• Colombia - Chile
• Colombia - CARICOM

Tariff Preferences:

• ATPDEA (US)
• Andean SGP (European Union)

7. Special Regimes to Encourage Foreign Trade

• 10 Duty Free Zones offering a number of tax and procedural incentives, as well as foreign exchange benefits.
• 5 Special Economic Export Zones offering a special regime for new export-oriented businesses.
• Incentives for Large Exporters
• Special import - export systems

8. Multiple Development Poles

Country risk can be diversified over multiple markets:

• One city with more than 7 million inhabitants.
• Three cities with more than 2 million inhabitants.
• Four cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants.
• 23 cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants.

Additionally, Colombia has the third largest population in Latin America (44 million inhabitants), after Brazil and Mexico.

9. Physical Infrastructure

• One of the highest coverage of public services in Latin America.
• Modern communications infrastructure.
• Increasing investment in transport infrastructure.

10. Confidence and Recognition from Foreign Investors

Over 400 multinational companies are successfully growing their businesses and expressing confidence in the country’s potential.

Some of them are:

• Citibank
• Gas Natural
• Nestlé
• Carrefour
• Drummond
• Unilever
• Bayer
• ExxonMobil
• Siemens
• McDonald's
• Renault
• DuPont
• BBVA
• Cemex
• América Móvil
• BellSouth

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