22 Aug 2013
Oxford Business Group launched The Report: Colombia 2013 to an audience of 500 at Club El Nogal Bogota on 22nd August 2013. The report was launched by María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar, Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs; other speakers included Juan Pablo Córdoba Garcés, President of Colombia Stock Exchange and Peter Grimsditch, OBG’s Regional Editor for Latin America.
New business guide charts economic progress as wide-ranging reforms gather pace.
Colombia’s remarkable economic growth, spurred on by tax reforms and extensive investment in extractive sectors, is mapped out in a ground-breaking business guide published today by Oxford Business Group (OBG). Other areas that receive close scrutiny are value-added labour-intensive services, improved security and infrastructure development over the next decade.
The Report: Colombia 2013, which marks OBG’s first publication on the country’s economic activity and investment opportunities, was launched on 22nd August 2013 at the Club El Nogal Bogota in the presence of key political and business figures. Speakers included Maria Ángela Holguín Cuéllar, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Juan Pablo Córdoba Garcés, President of Colombia Stock Exchange, as well as senior OBG officials.
The leading global publishing, research and consultancy firm’s report will offer in-depth analysis of the transformation that Colombia’s economy is undergoing despite challenges prompted by the global downturn. Sectors that have warranted special attention include the strengthening of the financial sector and its regional expansion, as well as the rapid growth of outsourcing services to foreign corporations.
The 320-page report includes a detailed, sector-by-sector guide for foreign investors, together with a wide range of interviews with the most prominent political, economic and business leaders, including Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia, the country´s main ministers, Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo, the Spanish Foreign Minister and Karel de Gucht, European Commissioner for Trade.
High profile international figures such as Douglas Peterson from Standard & Poor’s and Jim O’Neill, retired Chairman of Goldman Sachs and the inventor of the ‘BRICS’ term, also give their views.
The most comprehensive English language report on the country’s business activity to date, The Report: Colombia 2013 looks in detail at the reforms earmarked for the Latin American state, which come on the back of another year of growth thanks to healthy revenues from industries such as coal and hydrocarbons, as well as through the increasing contribution of thriving sectors where Colombia wants to stand out at regional level, including ICT and tourism.
The Report: Colombia 2013 includes comprehensive coverage of the five areas identified as growth drivers – mining, innovation, housing, infrastructure and agribusiness. Additionally, it examines in detail most of the other major sectors of the economy.
Contributions to The Report: Colombia 2013 have also been made by prietocarrizosa, OBG’s legal partner and PricewaterhouseCoopers Colombia, its tax and accountancy partner.
Andrew Jeffreys, OBG’s Editor in Chief, said that OBG’s first report on Colombia’s economic activity came as the country was beginning to reap the rewards of its ambitious reforms, despite the ripple effects of the world financial crisis.
“Colombia’s economic and social ambitions are being matched by unprecedented activity and expansion in almost every corner of business, guided by wholesale changes in the administration’s approach to transparency and professionalism,” said Jeffreys.
Peter Grimsditch, OBG’s Regional Editor for Latin America, added, “The transformation of the country in less than a generation into one of the world’s most sought after investment regions is practically a modern miracle.
“Economic development of its rich natural and human resources, coupled with a fierce determination to spread the wealth created throughout the country, makes Colombia a fascinating story that deserves a wider audience.”
María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar, Minister of Foreign Affairs, asserted that such economic and social analysis will contribute to ensure the international community is aware of the policies that the Colombian national government has put in place to make Colombia a fair, modern and safe country. “Oxford Business Group´s analysis will raise awareness of the opportunities for investment, exchange and cooperation in this new scenario”, she told OBG.
Carlos Raúl Yepes, president of Bancolombia, said that in light of increasing international interest in the country, such a vital economic analysis of the country will help provide accurate research for foreign investors. “Conditions are ripe for any investor to enter the country and this is already happening”, Yepes told OBG.
The Report: Colombia 2013 marks the culmination of more than ten months of ground-breaking field research by a team of analysts from OBG, assessing trends and developments in all major sectors of the economy, including energy, mining, finance, ICT, industry, tourism, transport, infrastructure and real estate.
The report forms part of the range of OBG’s publications, which are renowned as leading sources of information on developing and emerging economies around the world. The Report: Colombia 2013 is available in print form and online.