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After more than a decade ofPlan Colombia – the country’ssuccessful strategy to combatdrug terrorism in collabora-tion with the U.S. – Colombiais ready for a new era in its re-lations with its northern allyand largest trading partner.

In September 2010, Presi-dent Santos met with PresidentObama to discuss a wider agen-da between the two countriesthat moves beyond security is-sues to include democracy andhuman rights, energy, envi-ronment and climate change,economic opportunities, cul-ture and education, and sci-

ence and technology. Colom-bian ambassador to the U.S.Gabriel Silva Lujan says, “Safe-ty and security are still of greatrelevance but now we are look-ing to expand into a meaning-ful and substantive bilateralagenda.”

This new agenda will evenmove beyond the free tradeagreement between the twocountries, which is awaiting ap-proval from the U.S. Congress.

“Today, Colombia is a grow-ing, stable and safe country,and one that is highly impor-tant for companies in the U.S.,”says the ambassador.

Perhaps one of the most im-portant aspects in whichPresident Santos has distin-guished himself from the out-set has been in Colombia’sforeign relations.

Upon his election, analystspredicted the new Presidentwould work to increaseColombia’s influence in theregion and place a greateremphasis on regional inte-gration. Many believe thatPresident Santos could ful-fill the vacancy in LatinAmerican leadership left byformer Brazilian presidentLula da Silva.

Indeed, since taking officeless than a year ago, theColombian President has re-stored ruptured diplomaticrelations with Venezuela andEcuador, acted as a media-tor in securing Honduras’ re-turn to the Organization ofAmerican States, and pushedfor greater international in-volvement in the recon-struction of Haiti in theUnited Nations (Colombiawas elected last October asa non-permanent memberof the UN Security Councilfor the 2011-2012 term).

Colombia and theUnited States havebuilt a strong, long-standing relation-ship based upon

respect, cooperation, and com-mon goals. Some of the valuesboth countries share aredemocracy, individual freedomand freedom of the press, therule of law, economic prosper-ity, and the expansion of op-portunities for all. Now is timefor the next step.

When Juan Manuel SantosCalderon was elected Presidentin August 2010, he took overthe reins of a very different coun-

try than the one his predeces-sor Alvaro Uribe had inheritedin 2002. Colombia’s transfor-mation over the past decade hasbeen extraordinary, and whereformer president Uribe wasfaced with the task of regainingcontrol of conflict-torn territo-ry, President Santos presidesover one of Latin America’s mostsuccessful and prosperouseconomies, and a regional leaderin peace, justice and security.

While continuing with Mr.Uribe’s pro-market economicplatform and democratic secu-rity policies, President Santos’path since taking office has dif-

fered from his predecessor’s inseveral ways.

Restoring relations withVenezuela and Ecuador, thenew President has depolarizeddivisions within the countrythat marked Mr. Uribe’s presi-dency. He has also turned hisattention to judicial reform, andlaunched a corruption probeinto the national anti-drug traf-ficking agency.

He has worked to amplifythe agenda with the U.S. be-yond the free trade agreement,and has initiated importantnew legislation, such as the Vic-tims’ and Land Restitution Law,

which has been globally ap-plauded.

In May this year, Congressapproved the new anti-cor-ruption law, hailed by Presi-dent Santos as the mostambitious ever seen in Colom-bian Congress. Prohibiting thestate from contracting politi-cal campaign contributorswhile the supported candidateis in office, the law aims to closethe revolving door betweenpublic and private sectors.Through this anti-corruptioninitiative, coupled with othersin matters of security, Colom-bia has proven to be not only

a regional leader, but a globaltrendsetter to watch.

President Santos has alsomade moves to ensure a moreequitable distribution of thecountry’s mineral and hydro-carbon wealth through his ‘Prosperity for All’ national de-velopment program, whileworking to guarantee best prac-tice and the protection of humanrights. The President’s economicplatform is focused on the sus-tainable development of fiveeconomic engines: agriculture,infrastructure, housing, inno-vation and energy, and targetsannual GDP growth of 5%.

COLOMBIAWorking hand in hand

towards a new era This supplement to USA TODAY was produced by United World Ltd.: Suite 179, 34 Buckingham Palace Road - London SW1W 0RH - Tel: 44 20 7409 3106 - [email protected] - www.unitedworld-usa.com

‘TODAY,COLOMBIA ISA COUNTRYTHAT HAS THECAPACITYAND THEEXPERIENCETOCOLLABORATEIN REGIONALAND GLOBALISSUES’

GABRIEL SILVA LUJAN, Ambassador ofColombia to the U.S.

Presidents Santos and Obama met in April 2011 to discuss cooperation between the two nations in security, economic and social issues

Ready for business and new open doors with U.S.Human rights, democracy, energy, technology, and social and economic development are listed in the new agenda between the U.S. and Colombia

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PPRROODDUUCCEEDD BBYY::Gemma Gutierrez,

Alvaro Buenaventura,Carlos Rodriguez-Villa,Irama Vega, Alberto

Mariscal, and SaturninoIzquierdo

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

President Santos stepsup foreign relations driveColombia’s President is engaged in globalefforts to mitigate theimpacts of climatechange, and is alsoworking with othernations to improvemultinationalunderstanding in the region

Our WorldWednesday, July 20, 2011

A more extensive version ofthis report is available at

http://unitedworld.usatoday.com/ourworld.htm

COLOMBIA USAT pages 1-5.qxd 8/7/11 21:22 Página 1

Distributed by USA TODAYWednesday, July 20, 201122

COLOMBIA


Big reduction in violence has put economyback on the foreign investment map

During the 1970s and 1980s,Colombia became famous as asource of cocaine and as acountry scourged by politicalviolence. The country, whosebiggest legal exports are oil,coffee and coal, was embroiledin a guerrilla war against sev-eral different armed groups thatsought to overthrow the gov-ernment.

The biggest insurgent group,the Revolutionary ArmedForces of Colombia, or FARCin its Spanish initials, in the1990s began to move into drugtrafficking and production to

fund its efforts, sparking furtherviolence and forcing the gov-ernment to develop a muchstronger response to the FARCand other groups.

The Plan Colombia was de-veloped by the Colombian andU.S. governments to help trainand equip the South Ameri-can country’s police and armedforces for the fight against thearmed groups. The plan hasbeen a great success, cuttingthe murder rate from 77.5 per1,000 inhabitants in 1999 to 34per 100,000 in 2010.

“The Plan Colombia has al-lowed us to gain military andpolice capacities that we did-n’t have before,” says RodrigoRivera Salazar, Colombia’s De-fense Minister. “These capac-ities have been fundamentalto our success against drug traf-ficking, terrorism and illegaldrug cultivation. It’s not a planthat was conceived to last in-definitely, but rather with thegoal of improving Colombiancapacities, and that goal hasbeen achieved.”

President Juan Manuel San-tos has continued most of the el-ements of Plan Colombia put inplace by his predecessor, AlvaroUribe. The gains from Mr.Uribe’s policy of democratic se-

curity, and from President San-tos’ focus on promoting thecountry’s economy, have man-aged to change the businesscommunity’s opinion of thecountry, and are helping to at-

tract investments from abroad. “Mr. Uribe turned the coun-

try around 180 degrees,” saysPedro Miguel Estrada, presi-dent of Compañia de Em-paques. “In regards to foreign

investment, Uribe created trust,and the will to invest and believein the country.”

The military is also doing itspart to help the economy. TheDefense Ministry has organizedthe companies it owns, whichprovide logistic, social and se-curity services to the armedforces, into the Social and Busi-ness Defense Group (GSED).

The GSED, which oversees18 different companies, is taskedwith contributing “in an efficientand measurable way” to peaceand public safety in Colombia bysupplying the armed forces withneeded goods and services. Theemphasis at the group is on in-creasing efficiency and produc-tivity, to better help the military,security apparatus, and ulti-mately, Colombian citizens.

“Colombians have becomeincreasingly demanding, theyare demanding more and moreresults, better actions,” says Mr.Rivera Salazar. “This representsa major cultural change becauseit guarantees the continuity ofthis policy.”While serving as Defense Minister, President Santos gained popularity for his successful fight against FARC

The global crisis that shookmany of the world’s biggesteconomies in 2007 and 2008 had less of an effect on Colombia, which hadlearned its lesson earlier, dur-ing a crisis in the 1990s. Thecountry’s financial system iswell regulated and stayedstrong during the recent diffi-culties, and the central bankused a steady hand when it setinterest rate policy to help con-trol growth.

“Two major factors havecontributed to the financialhealth of Colombia: a strong-ly anti-cyclical monetary pol-icy and a sound financialsystem thanks to the lessonlearned in the crisis of the late90s,” says Jose Dario Uribe,manager of the central bank,or Banco de la Republica deColombia.

That situation has madeColombia an ideal place forinvestors seeking opportuni-ties. The country was ranked39th in the World Bank’s 2011edition of its Doing Businesssurvey, which ranks 183 coun-tries based on a series of criteria. The area whereColombia ranked highest inthe survey was ‘protecting in-

vestors,’ where it was rankedfifth overall.

“I’d encourage all Americancompanies to come and investbecause there are opportuni-ties in Colombia in nearly everyfield,” says Juan Pablo Jimeno,country manager at CB&IColombia, one of the world’sleading engineering, procure-ment and construction firms.

Colombia’s gross domesticproduct has had solid growthin recent years, as have itsbanks, making the financialsector an area with strong po-tential for outside investors.One indicator of the country’sfinancial stability is that Stan-dard & Poor’s raised Colombia’scredit rating to investmentgrade earlier this year.

Colombia’s reinvention hasled to great economic growthRicardo Triana of theCouncil of AmericanEnterprises points out thateconomic stability hasdefined and distinguishedColombia amidst theglobal economic crisis

President Santos appointedGerman Vargas Lleras as hisInterior and Justice Ministerto oversee the enactment andimplementation of a key pieceof legislation, which the min-ister has described as “themost ambitious human rightsproject in Colombia and anexample to the world”.

The country’s Senate ap-proved the Victims and LandRestitution Law in May thisyear. The legislation will pro-vide reparations to the vic-tims of violence during theconflict among the govern-ment, guerrillas and drug traf-fickers, and return stolen landto people forced off theirproperty.

President Santos and Mr.Vargas Lleras are workinghard on other reforms as well.

One important area is chang-ing the law which governs the distribution of royalties gen-erated by extracting the coun-try’s mineral wealth. The newlegislation will divide thecountry into six regions andensure that each one receivesroyalties from the mineralstaken from within its borders.

Transparency in govern-ment and in the justice sys-tem is another project for theministry. The goal is to providecitizens, companies and in-vestors with a level playingfield, and to fight the scourgeof corruption. The new ruleswill prevent businesses or peo-ple who have been involvedwith past corrupt practices,for example, from gettingmore work with the govern-ment.

To provide even more cer-tainty, the government hasproposed a change to theConstitution that will end the possibility of retroactive sen-tences regarding taxation andon penal matters. There is al-so a plan to strengthen arbi-tration as a means of solvinglegal conflicts, which will pro-vide a faster alternative to thecourts.

“President Santos is settingan example of democracy,unity, of a new Colombiawhere his main focus is not onsolving the past problems, buton looking straight ahead,”says Horacio Velez de Bed-out, president of telecom-munications company UNE.“I don’t think we need to re-turn to gain momentum, themomentum is in ourselves.”

In Juan Manuel Santos’ 2010 presidential inaugural speech he promised to pass a land restitution law to return stolen lands and to help the victims of violence

Terrorist acts are down84% from 2002.Homicides andkidnappings havedropped 45% and 88%,respectively, from 2002through 2009, markingthe lowest rates in 22years. The Plan Colombiais proving effective andthe result is higherconfidence at home andabroad

A country dedicated to human rights

GERMAN VARGAS LLERAS, Minister of Interior and Justice

This has been a good year forthe Colombian Stock Exchange,or BVC in its Spanish initials.The steady rise of its bench-mark index, spurred by robusteconomic growth and demandfor good investment opportu-nities, prompted Morgan Stan-ley in April to call it ‘the beststock market in the world.’

The BVC rose an annual av-erage of 35% over the past 10years, the best such record inthe world, followed by the Pe-ruvian market which rose 24%per year over the same period,according to analysts at the U.S.investment bank. The BVC’sbenchmark index will probably

rise about 22% this year to 17,500points, Morgan Stanley said.

The exchange also addedseven new foreign companiesto its Global Colombian Mar-ket, where the total number ofinternational shares listed roseto 28 and now includes globalgiants such as McDonald’s, In-tel, AT&T and Microsoft.

The BVC is now part of anew stock exchange thatunites the Colombian, Peru-vian and Chilean bourses, pro-viding a larger pool wherebusiness can seek capital.Launched on May 30, the newexchange is called the Inte-grated Latin American Mar-

ket and is the second biggestexchange in Latin America,after Brazil, in terms of com-bined market capitalizationof the companies listed.

The bigger market will pro-vide many advantages for com-panies that list their sharesthere, explains Jose DarioUribe, manager of the Bancode la Republica de Colombia,the country’s central bank.

“The integration of the stockexchange with Chile and Peruwill open great opportunitiesfor investment in the threecountries and will increasebusiness competitiveness inthe region,” he says.

Stock market named ‘the bestin the world’Between 2001 and 2007, the Colombian Stock Exchange grew fourteen-fold, and ithas embarked on a project that unites the Peruvian, Chilean and Colombian markets



Distributed by USA TODAY Wednesday, July 20, 2011 33

COLOMBIA

Booming banks ready to take on world

While many of the world’s bank-ing sectors are struggling to re-cover from the global economiccrisis, Colombian banks arethriving in both the local mar-ket and more recently, the in-ternational market, even makinga recent bid to join the Organi-zation for Economic Coopera-tion and Development (OECD).

The South American countrylearned a valuable lesson aboutits financial sector during the1998 national economic crisis,which the rest of the world isdiscovering now: there needs tobe more regulation and trans-parency.

“As a result of the crisis betterlegislation and regulations werecreated,” explains Luis CarlosSarmiento Gutierrez, the presi-dent of Grupo Aval, the largestColombian bank controllingaround 30% of the country’s fi-nancial assets. “As far as bankswere concerned, they stoppedbeing so naïve. New rules forloans appeared.”

Mr. Sarmiento (who is the sonof Colombia’s wealthiest manand 135th in the world, Luis Car-los Sarmiento Angulo) went onto say that Colombians havelearned that they need to main-tain control of the system andbecome international while stillbeing managed by Colombians.

Unlike Mexico and Peru, whohave not maintained local con-trol, the three largest bankinggroups in Colombia, Grupo Aval,Bancolombia and Davivienda,who control more than 60% ofall banking operations, are all inthe hands of Colombians.

As a result of the solidity inColombia today, the financialsystem’s assets totaled $666.58billion, meaning a quarterlygrowth of 4.19% and an annualgrowth of 19.04%. The Colom-bian banks’ success and stabili-ty on a local level positions themto move into the internationalsphere.

Moves for economic expan-sion are seen both on a privateand public level, as a result ofthe growing economy. TheColombian government put ina bid in January to join theOECD, which Colombian Pres-ident Santos refers to as “a club

with good practices.” The OECD,an international organizationthat works to promote respon-sible economic policies, is com-prised of 34 countries, primarilyeconomically advanced nations.

President Santos assures thatOECD membership will be avery important qualitative jumpin the country’s ongoing devel-opment and a way to move intothe international scene. “We donot want to compare ourselvesonly to Latin America, we wantto compare ourselves with theworld. We have the potential andwe have the means to emergenot only in Latin America, wherewe are already emerging, but al-so in the world.”

OECD member countriesare seen as solid economiesand more attractive to in-vestors. According to MichaelShifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, theOECD is a privileged club.“Membership is a measure ofa certain level of economic de-velopment and a commitmentto sound policies and good-governance practices,” he says,pointing to Colombia’s quali-fications for membership in-cluding a banking sector with

strong fundamentals andmacroeconomic stability.

Colombia’s bid has also re-ceived a vote of confidence fromthe U.S.

“I am very impressed that theSantos administration has adopt-ed this as a goal,” says U.S. Sec-retary of State Hillary Clinton,who visited the OECD head-quarters in Paris in June andhighlighted her support for

Colombia’s admission to the international entity. “The U.S.wants to support this impressiveinvestment in the Colombianpeople and to look for how wecan reach out to all Colombians.”

The economic developmentin the country in part is relatedto the strict banking regulationsalready in place, but also the con-trol of the growing influence ofthe three main Colombian banks.

Grupo Aval, consisting of Bogota, Occident, Popularand AV Villas banks, hasassets valued around $32billion. Its recent purchaseof BAC- Credomatic, acompany in the BritishVirgin Islands, for $1.9billion will give the com-pany more prevalencethroughout South and Central America and is expected to make a profit of $200

million this year. The grouplooks to expand through fur-ther bank acquisitions and is inthe process of starting to sell itsshares in the NYSE.

Bancolombia, the second largest banking group, is expe-riencing enormous success ona global scale with its policy since2006 of universal banking, ex-panding their investment por-folio. When Bancolombiastarted selling their bonds, theyreceived 235 investors from Eu-rope, North America and LatinAmerica totaling $2.7 billion andmaking them one of the mostimportant Colombian playersin the global market.

Of these three most impor-tant economic players, Da-vivienda, a member of Gru-po Bolivar, is the

leader in credit card operationshaving 1.6 million of the 8 mil-lion in Colombia. Just like GrupoAval, Davivienda has opened abranch in Miami, focusing oninternational trade. Among itsgrowing global success, the com-pany is also famed for its un-beatable working conditions:Davivienda president, EfrainForero, was awarded the prizeof best employer in 2010.

Although growth is importantfor the banks on an internation-al scale they also are committedto giving back to Colombia. Anexample is Grupo Aval’s foun-dation Colfuturo, which helpssend 1,000 students overseasevery year with scholarships for

Masters and PhDprograms.

Colombia’s financial solidity since the beginning of the millennium has positioned it well to play a more important role nationally as well as internationally

Colombia’sfinancial system

has shownannual growth

of 19.04%






COLOMBIA

Ambitious infrastructure plans openup opportunities for the private sectorPresident Juan Manuel Santoshas ambitious plans for his coun-try’s economic growth, and heand his team have identified thefive main ‘locomotives’ that willdrive expansion. The sectorswhere the government wants toattract and focus investment areinfrastructure, agriculture, en-ergy, housing and innovation.

Colombia’s economy hasmanaged to grow steadily overthe years, even during the worsttimes of political and drug-fu-eled violence, and now that thearmed groups have been re-duced to nuisances in most re-gions, the country is ready toadvance and make the kind ofprogress that will improve thelives of millions.

Colombia needs investmentin transport infrastructure tohelp economic growth contin-ue. Cargo exports have in-creased more than 35% in thepast five years, while the coun-try’s geographic location, withPacific and Atlantic coasts, giveit great potential to be a trans-shipment hub in the region.

The Transport Ministry ex-pects investments of more than$45 billion on transportationinfrastructure throughout thecountry over the next 10 years,and has plans to attract privatecompanies both in Colombiaand from abroad to providemore than 30% of the targetedinvestment.

“We are inviting all investorsin the world to come and thinkof great works because we wantto have a lot of private equity,and we are promoting it with-in and outside the country,” saysGerman Cardona, Colombia’sMinister of Transport.

The Ministry is planning toinvest in road, rail, air and port

projects to improve the flow ofgoods and people around andinto and out of the country.Colombia’s airports will be thefocus of one area of the Min-istry’s plans, with the goal ofproviding the country withmodern passenger and cargofacilities by the end of 2015.

One group of projects, forexample, will grant a 20-yearoperating concession for theairports in the cities of SantaMarta, Cucuta, Bucaramanga,Barrancabermeja, Valleduparand Riohacha in return for in-vestments of about $55 mil-lion to improve various areasof their infrastructure.

The number of passengers

using Colombian airports near-ly doubled, from 8 million to15.6 million, between 1991 and2009. Air traffic is expected tocontinue to grow by about 5%a year, according to Aerocivil,Colombia’s civil aviation agency,which plans major investmentsto improve air traffic controland other parts of the country’saeronautic infrastructure.

“We want the aviation sec-tor to be the mainstay of the ‘lo-comotive’ of infrastructure,”says Santiago Castro, Aerociv-il’s director.

In a country the size ofColombia, air transport is veryimportant for moving peopleand goods around, but as a pro-

ducer of bulky products suchas coffee and bananas, and heavymaterials including coal andnickel, rail and road transportare also vital to the smooth func-tioning of the economy.

The government is in theprocess of issuing more than 1trillion pesos ($562 million) oftenders for projects, most ofthem in the roads sector, whiletenders for building the Cararerail line and improving the Cen-tral rail system will be issuedlater this year. In total the gov-ernment hopes to build 785miles of new rail.

Chinese builders are mullinga project to build a rail line link-ing Colombia’s Pacific and At-

lantic coasts to provide an al-ternative to the Panama Canal.Another project would expandthe capacity of a rail line usedto ship coal to the Atlanticcoast, a key to boosting exportsof high-quality thermal coal.

The plans for roads and high-ways through 2014 will focuson four corridors, and will buildor improve about 3,045 milesof roads for about 9.85 billionpesos. The projects include theconstruction of bridges andtunnels, widening of existingroads and the building of newhighways.

The new roads and railwayswill increase the flow of goodsto Colombia’s ports, and the

government has ambitiousplans in that area as well. About2 billion pesos will be spent overthe next four years to improveaccess to ports, and the gov-ernment hopes to increase theircapacity by 30% annually by fo-cusing on building a few mega-ports, rather than many smallerones.

Finding financing for majorinfrastructure projects can bea challenge, and the govern-ment is working to make theprocess easier. It announcedlast year that the developmentfinancing agency, known asFindeter, will be converted in-to the National InfrastructureBank, or BNI, to improve accessto funding.

Findeter lent more than 7 bil-lion pesos from 2007 through2010, including 1.8 billion pe-sos for housing, 1 billion pesosfor healthcare infrastructure,759 million pesos for educationfacilities and 221 million pesosfor tourism infrastructure.

The government has the fi-nancial muscle to finance a bigpart of its ambitious infra-structure investment plans, butit also welcomes the participa-tion of the private sector, whichcan participate in big projectsand help build the transporta-tion system Colombia needsfor future economic growth.

“Our doors are open tomultinational companies in or-der for them to come and seethe great opportunities in in-frastructure, in both rail andports systems, airports androad concessions that will helpmake our country more com-petitive and our economy moreefficient,” says Juan Miguel Du-ran, Ports and Transport Su-perintendent.

The government is planning major investments in various rail, road, air and port infrastructure projects that are needed to keep the country’s economic growth on the move

Natural resource wealth counted in the billions The expression ‘an embarrass-ment of riches’ can easily be applied to Colombia’s mineralwealth. The country possessesthe largest coal reserves in LatinAmerica, is the world’s biggestproducer of emeralds, and hassignificant amounts of gold andnickel. Colombia also producescopper, iron ore and bauxite, themain source of aluminum.

As if that weren’t enough,Colombia also has the second-biggest hydroelectric potentialin South America, after Brazil,and proven oil reserves of about2 billion barrels. That figurecould rise by as much as 6 bil-lion barrels by 2020, if explo-ration continues at the currentpace, according to officials atEcopetrol, Colombia’s state-con-trolled oil company.

President Juan Manuel San-tos wants energy and mining tobe one of the five ‘locomotives’

of growth, and is acting ac-cordingly. Colombia welcomesforeign investment in these sec-tors, and especially hopes to at-tract more money to its oilindustry, which has the poten-tial to grow quickly.

“There have been very im-portant signals that the Colom-bian government understandsthat under private sector de-velopment, the oil sector willexperience very significantgrowth,” says Carlos Arturo Espinosa, general manager ofThorneloe Energy Colombia, aprivately owned oil explorationand production company.

The most obvious signal thatthe government wants to at-tract foreign investment was achange to the legal code in Jan-uary of this year, which opensup foreigners’ access to the stockmarket and gives Colombiancompanies seeking financing a

new and much bigger potentialmarket to tap.

The emerald mining indus-try is ripe for investment, withrecent studies indicating thatonly 7% of potential deposits inthe Boyaca region have beenmined. Boyaca is the source ofsome of the highest-qualityemeralds mined today, but itsmines need investment to seekout deeper and deeper deposits.

Gold is another industrywhere new financing couldgreatly boost output. Colombiaalready has the most provengold reserves in South Ameri-ca, and many promising areashave barely been explored. Pro-duction is mostly small-scale,but new discoveries and bettersecurity have allowed rapid in-creases in output.

Colombia also has great po-tential as an exporter of hy-droelectric energy. Already

about 70% of the country’s elec-tricity comes from hydroelec-tric sources, and Colombia’smany rivers give it the poten-tial to increase production be-yond its domestic needs.

Hydroelectric and otherforms of renewable energy areclearly the future for the in-dustry, and Colombia boastsabundant conditions to gener-ate electricity from the windand the sun. Focusing on thosesources would also help pro-tect the environment, anotherone of the government’s goals.

“The great challenge that thecountry faces is to promote themining sector with environ-mental responsibility, and toachieve that balance there mustbe a midpoint between socialdevelopment and environmen-tal preservation,” says Cesar E.Díaz, executive director of theColombian Mining Chamber.

From hydroelectric potential through minerals and petroleum, Colombia’s bounty of resources is a huge magnet to foreign investors

President Juan Manuel Santoshas announced various differ-ent plans to spur economicgrowth and improve the stan-dard of living of his country-men. None are more importantthan the housing program,which will provide the poorestColombians with what theyneed most, homes and work.

“This is an ambitious pro-ject not only socially, but alsoeconomically, as the figuresshow that construction is themost dynamic sector in em-ployment generation,” saysBeatriz Uribe, Minister ofHousing, Environment andTerritorial Development.

The government housinginitiative goals are to buildquality social housing, devel-

op the water supply, sanitation,drainage and energy infra-structure that accompaniesnew home construction, makegovernment land managementmore efficient and build up themanagement capacity of theconstruction sector.

Construction is currentlyone of the main drivers of eco-nomic expansion in Colom-bia, and the forecast by theColombian Chamber of Com-merce for Construction, or Ca-macol, is for growth of 4% inthe sector this year. The gov-ernment’s investment in thehousing sector is an importantfactor.

“Social interest housing is gain-ing great importance in the mar-ket,” says Martha Pinto de Hart,

former president of Camacol.“The impetus that the govern-ment is giving to the ‘locomotive’of housing shows a positive out-look for these projects.”

The government is encour-aging private-sector involve-ment in the constructionprogram, which will build fourto six macro projects in citiesaround the country. The ini-tiative recently gained the im-portant support of the WorldBank, which approved a $40million loan to help finance it. The World Bank’s regional di-rector, Gloria Grandolini,praised the “innovative” planand pledged to continue tosupport housing programs toimprove living conditions forthose in need.

“Innovative” social housingplans to raise quality of lifeThe construction sector, one of the main drivers of the country’s economic expansion,is getting a further boost with the government’s drive to create more social housing

The Colombian government is issuing more than $562 million in tenders for road and rail projects

Colombia boasts the biggest coal reserves in the continent, as well as generousquantities of nickel, gold, iron ore, copper and bauxite



COLOMBIA


Colombia has enormous po-tential to become an agricul-tural super power. The countryboasts huge tracts of undevel-oped land in its interior and,with the proper investment,can become as productive andsuccessful as the developmentof Brazil’s Cerrado, whichturned Colombia’s neighborinto one of the biggest agri-cultural exporters in the world.

The government has plansto encourage that develop-ment, and is working to at-tract private investmentalongside the state spendingthat will provide potential agri-cultural areas with the trans-port and storage infrastructurenecessary to move largeamounts of food commodi-ties from farms to export mar-kets.

“Colombia has significantpotential to contribute as apantry of food for which thereis increasingly strong demandin the world,” says Juan Cami-lo Restrepo, Colombia’s Min-ister of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment.

Colombia’s varied terrainand climate conditions makeit an ideal country for grow-ing tropical crops as well asplants that grow better in tem-

perate climates. Colombia’sbest known and most impor-tant agricultural export is cof-fee, which grows very well inthe country’s warm, rainy,mountainous regions.

Colombian coffee is famousfor its smoothness and aro-ma, and commands a premi-um on world commoditiesmarkets. The U.S. buys abouthalf of the country’s coffee ex-ports, but Colombia also sells

significant amounts of thebeans to Germany, theNetherlands, Spain and othercountries.

Other warm-weather cropsthe country produces – andcan produce more of with theproper development – includebananas and plantains, rice,cotton, sugar cane, tobaccoand corn. In cooler areas thecountry’s land is also very fer-tile and can produce a widevariety of fruits, vegetables

and other crops, such as beans,cocoa, wheat, barley and pota-toes.

The government recentlyapproved a project that willinvest about $450 million inunderdeveloped regions tohelp them take advantage oftheir agricultural potential.Most of the money comingfrom the state will be spent tobuild up the regions’ road net-works, while the governmentexpects private investors tostep in and invest as the trans-port conditions improve.

Investment in infrastructureis another important part ofthe government’s plans to spurthe economy, and all the fiveso-called ‘locomotives’ ofgrowth will interact with eachother to boost expansion further. Another of the gov-ernment’s most importantpolicies, the redistribution ofland to Colombians, will alsohelp encourage agriculturaldevelopment around the coun-try.

“The distribution of landhas a historic opportunity toturn the country into a majorplayer in food productionglobally, as Brazil is also doing,”says Alejandro Santos, the di-rector of Semana Magazine.

Huge tracts of land holdmajor agricultural potentialFamed for its fine coffee beans, Colombia’s varied terrain and climate make itideal for a wide range of crops

The government’s program totransform the Colombianeconomy is well thought outand tackles several different,and complementary, sectorsat the same time. Investmentsin agriculture and extractiveindustries will boost output,while spending on transportinfrastructure will make it eas-ier to get those products totheir markets, at home andabroad.

One of the five main ‘loco-motives’ identified by the gov-ernment as vital to growth willhave a broad effect on theeconomy. Programs to spurinnovation will help make thewhole economy more efficientand operate more smoothly,producing gains for peopleand business all along the pro-duction chain.

The country already has or-ganizations that are leadingthe way. One such pioneer isCorbic, a Colombian compa-ny that develops cardio-neurovascular medical tech-nology. Founded six years ago,it is the brainchild of five car-diologists and a business man-ager who saw a niche in thehealthcare market.

“Innovation has been theflag of our organization,

thanks to new governmentguidelines, we are exportingpatents and innovative ideasto the U.S.,” said Carlos Igna-cio Granada, co-founder andgeneral manager of Corbic.

The government takes itscommitment to innovationvery seriously, and is spendingaccordingly. One project willinvest about 5.5 billion pesos($3 million) on telecommuni-cations infrastructure, to im-

prove the ability of the country’sbusiness schools and univer-sities to share information andteach a new generation.

To help Colombians in theremotest part of the countrygain access to the Internet, thegovernment has a plan tolaunch a satellite that will bringcommunications services tomore than 22,000 rural com-munities. The government’sgoal is to put the satellite inspace during 2013.

The government wants re-searchers to specialize in ar-eas where Colombia has acompetitive advantage. Withits abundant forests, moun-tains, coastline and rivers, thecountry has immense biodi-versity, and last year a datacenter was opened that pro-vides a single repository of in-formation on Colombia’splants, animals and otherforms of life.

Even before the governmentstarted focusing on innova-tion, there was already a big ap-petite to use informationtechnology. In the first half of2010 investment in the Inter-net increased 50% from a yearearlier, and the country’s mar-ket for software doubled insize in the three years throughthe end of 2009.

Colombia has already hadsuccess exporting technolo-gy. The country’s software de-velopers specialize in businessmanagement and security ap-plications, and software ex-ports grew 6% in 2009 from ayear earlier, proving thatColombia is already an inno-vative country, and with stim-ulus from the government isready to become even moreforward-looking.

An insatiable appetite for innovationFrom medical developments to education, information technology and biodiversity,programs to spur innovation are taking Colombia forward

‘COLOMBIA HASSIGNIFICANTPOTENTIAL TOCONTRIBUTE AS APANTRY OF FOODFOR WHICH THEREIS INCREASINGLYSTRONG DEMANDIN THE WORLD’

THE GOVERNMENTHAS A PLAN TOLAUNCH A SATELLITETHAT WILL BRINGCOMMUNICATIONSSERVICES TO MORETHAN 22,000 RURALCOMMUNITIES



COLOMBIA


The turbulent events Colombia has witnessed in the pastfew decades, while giving off a negative image in theinternational arena, have in turn made the country moreself-sufficient in many ways. Local entrepreneurs oftenhad to set out on their own without the help of foreigninvestors. In doing so, they became independent andstrong, and came to understand the local market like nooutsider ever could. Moreover, managers tend to infusetheir business activities with social responsibility, lendinga helping hand to their fellow Colombians in need. As a result, Colombia’s private sector is solid andbusinesspeople here play a vital role in the country’ssocial and economic development. And now thatColombia has returned to a more stable state, foreigninvestors are taking notice of the local talent, successstories, innovation and ethical behavior. Add to thiscocktail a transparent and well-regulated financialsector, a wealth of natural resources and attractive

T P

In the early 1990s, HarvardMBA student Carlos Mattosattended a conference givenby the president of the Amer-ican-Korean Chamber ofCommerce president, and wasstruck by the idea of import-ing Korean products into hisnative country of Colombia.

After the talk, Mr. Mattos ap-proached the Korean and in-quired what brands werelooking to be globalized. Afterreceiving the answer that sev-eral automotive makers wishedto enter foreign markets, a youngMr. Mattos got in contact withHyundai and by 1992 had beenchosen to be the Korean com-pany’s distributor in Colombia.Through inspiration, and some

rather unconventional market-ing tactics at a local car show,Mr. Mattos managed to sell 200vehicles, surpassing even hisown expectations and im-pressing the Koreans.

Today, Mr. Mattos’ Hyundaiempire comprises 36 dealersand 54 outlets, and sales exceed$1 billion. Hyundai Colombia isthe third company in the coun-try, and ranks first in imports.

“We’ve been named Best Dis-tributor for Latin America sev-en times, and two times as theBest Distributor Worldwide,”boasts Mr. Mattos. “We’ve al-ways fulfilled the annual salegoals that Hyundai has set for us.”

Seeing opportunities in oth-er areas, Mr. Mattos has taken his

business shrewdness beyond theautomotive sector. He has al-ready entered the U.S. marketwith real estate projects and thisyear Mr. Mattos, who ranksamong Colombia’s wealthiestmen, has teamed up with PomaGroup in a local project that willhave a positive social impact.

“We are in a joint venture toimprove a run-down area inCartagena de Indias, calledChambacu. We want to devel-op a residential complex in a six-hectare lot as a point of referencefor the local citizens and the na-tional and foreign tourism in thecity,” he explains. “The project isat an advanced stage and willhelp the community interactmore and provide many jobs.”

HYUNDAI COLOMBIA

A key ally for Korea in ColombiaBusiness entrepreneur Carlos Mattos linked up with Hyundai, taking the Korean brand to unforeseen heights

Colombia is a beautiful coun-try, with much of its naturalareas still intact, lovely citiesand towns, and thousands ofsquare miles of marine area.Aviatur is the country’s mostfamous travel agency whichhas been developing tourismroutes to unexplored placesand making the country ac-cessible to Colombians andforeigners alike for over halfa century.

Established by Jean ClaudeBessudo, Grupo Aviatur cur-rently has 29 companies,some 4,400 collaborators and298 offices in the country.Abroad, Aviatur is repre-sented in Quito, Caracas, Ha-vana, Panama City, Paris andMiami.

Mr. Bessudo is highly op-timistic about Colombia’s rolein the global tourism marketin the very near future. “Dur-ing the Vietnam War, nobodythought that one day Viet-nam would become a maintourist destination. Those ofus who knew about Lebanonduring its toughest times,who experienced the time ofKhmer Rouge in Cambodia,did not imagine the impor-tance they would bear. There-fore, I consider that Colombiawill be next in line,” he says.

One of the group’s flagshipsubsidiaries is Avia Hotels.Founded in 2006, Avia stands

out for having been the firstto apply for permission to es-tablish lodgings in Colom-bia’s national parks. “Ourproposal aimed to improvepark facilities in a way thatthey would welcome bothbackpackers and wealthytravelers, and has been high-ly successful,” explains Mr.Bessudo. “We like ecologicaltourism and our four projectsare located in the TatacoaDesert (which is already inoperation), Cartagena, SantaMarta and in La Guajira.”

Aviatur has also developeda charming seaside hotel inGorgona, an Alcatraz-styleprison island that in 1985 wasturned into a National Nat-ural Reservation Park.

GRUPO AVIATUR

Tourism hasnever looked so brightGrupo Aviatur is eager to lead Colombia as theworld’s next favorite tourist destination

Some companies, thoughhumble in origin, seem des-tined for greatness. Such is thecase of Olimpica, which start-ed out as a simple Barranquillapharmacy.

Ricardo Char Zaslawy, a Syr-ian immigrant, opened his firstshop in 1953 and by winningthe loyalty of his clients, wasable to open two more shopsover the following year. How-ever, as a result of a car acci-dent in 1955, he was unable tocontinue working at the shopand so his son, Fuad, took overat the young age of 17.

Though still a teenager andlargely inexperienced, theyoung Mr. Char soon demon-strated an innate business acu-men, turning the small chainaround and conquering theBarranquilla market, alongwith the help of his brothersJabib, Farid and Simon whoformed the company CharHermanos Ltda.

“I had to open my father’sstore on July 31, 1955. Fifty-six years have almost passedand I am still there, managingthat store and more than 200other stores that we have allaround the nation,” recalls FuadChar, president of Olimpica.

In 1968, he inaugurated thefirst Olimpica superstore un-der the motto “Sell more for

less”. In the early 1970s, Mr.Char opened another Olimpi-ca superstore, this time pio-neering the self-service system,an idea heretofore unseen inBarranquilla. From here onout, Olimpica’s growth was un-stoppable.

Today, shoppers can findnearly everything they needat any of Olimpica’s superstores– from fresh produce, meat,bakery and deli products tohome appliances, clothing, fur-niture, hardware, toys, phar-maceuticals and cosmetics.

The Olimpica chain has sur-passed COP2.6 billion ($1.5million) in sales and todayranks 13th among Colombiancompanies. Moreover, theChar Group has investmentsin a wide variety of other ar-eas, including media, finance,

construction, real estate, fastfood, packaging, advertising,rice and poultry production,concentrates, security services,and telephony.

In Colombia and beyond, Mr.Char is known as a savvy busi-nessman and retailer as well asthe long-time owner of Juniorde Barranquilla, one of the mostsuccessful Colombian soccerclubs, and the nationwide radiostation Olimpica Estereo.

Mr. Char is also widely con-sidered Barranquilla’s most fa-mous politician. He wasnamed Governor of Atlanti-co State and Minister of Eco-nomic Development byformer President Virgilio Bar-co, in 1987, and in 1991 wasvoted senator for the LiberalParty. Reelected to Senate in1994, 1998 and 2002, with thebacking of Alvaro Uribe Velez(Colombia’s president from2002 till 2010), Mr. Char laterserved for a year as the Colom-bian Ambassador to Portugal.

He decided to return to hishometown of Barranquilla,from where he once again ranfor Senate, this time under theCambio Radical party. Thebusiness magnate and politi-cian’s sons, Arturo and Ale-jandro, have also gone intopolitics, the latter havingserved as Governor of At-lantico State in 2003 and May-or of Barranquilla from 2007.Meanwhile, another son, An-tonio, has taken charge of thefamily businesses.

OLIMPICA

Neighborhood shop tosuperstore giantOlimpica is an excellentexample of how one mancan turn a family businessinto a mega-business

Colombia is one of six LatinAmerican countries that havethe most significant energyresources for the future. List-ed on the Toronto and Colom-bian stock exchanges, PacificRubiales is Colombia’s largestindependent oil and gas ex-ploration and productioncompany.

It has 100% ownership ofPacific Stratus and Meta Pe-troleum Ltd., two importantlocal oil and gas companiesthat operate and hold interestsin the Rubiales and Piriri oilfields in the Llanos Basin, aswell as the La Creciente nat-ural gas field in the northernpart of the country.

Pacific Rubiales hasn’t al-ways been this large and suc-cessful. According tocompany CEO Ronald Pan-tin, this is “a company thatthree years ago started with aninitial capital of $280 millionand today has $10 billion; weare talking about outstandinggrowth.”

“Speaking of lands to be ex-plored, today we have almostthe same amount as Ecopetrol[the state-owned company],that is, 14 million acres in 35blocks in Colombia,” he adds.“With this success rate wehave had and with the ex-trapolated experience fromVenezuela, I think this com-pany’s fate is to have hugegrowth.”

Pacific Rubiales is partici-

pating in various projects totransport crude oil, includingthe Bicentenary Oil Pipeline,which it is developing in col-laboration with Ecopetrol.While this line leads to an out-bound port on Colombia’sCaribbean coast, Mr. Pantinforecasts the need to alsobuild a pipeline to the Pacif-ic coast, to better fulfill thedemands of the rapidly grow-ing Asian markets.

The company is also re-sponsible for the greatest nat-

ural gas inland discovery inColombia. “We are planningfor huge growth, especially inrelation to exports to theCaribbean and Central Amer-ica, which may place Colombiaas the main energy provider inthese regions,” says Mr. Pantin.

Although oil and gas com-prises Pacific Rubiales’ key ac-tivity, the company is alsoactive in gold, coal, and as-phaltite mining, as well as renewable and alternative en-ergies.

PACIFIC RUBIALES

Colombia’s independentoil and gas companyPacific Rubiales is one of the most famous investments thanks to its successful hit rate

JEAN CLAUDE BESSUDOPresident of Grupo Aviatur

CARLOS MATTOSPresident of Hyundai Colombia

FUAD CHARPresident of Olimpica

companies

investment incentives, and the global businesscommunity is thrilled to have a new market with suchvast potential. Some of the world’s biggest and mostpowerful multinational companies – from the U.S.,Canada, Europe, Brazil, China and Korea, amongothers – are heading Colombia’s way to takeadvantage of these still early stage developments. On the following three pages, 11 companies arehighlighted for their contributions to the local economy.Some began from a grassroots level and are now sectorleaders, such as Servientrega, Inversiones Mundial andOlimpica, while others became key allies of foreignbrands in Colombia, like Hyundai Colombia. Some ofthese companies, including Grupo Bolivar, Grupo Avaland UNE, began as a response to fulfill a clear demand.In addition, Pacific Rubiales, Procafecol, Grupo Nutresaand Grupo Aviatur are four local companies that havevery successfully harnessed Colombia’s natural wealth.

Grupo Mattos, the company that holds the exclusive dealership rights to Hyundai in Colombia, is participating in talks to set up a Korea-Colombia free trade agreement

RONALD PANTIN CEO of Pacific

Rubiales



COLOMBIA


In 1939, just three months be-fore the outbreak of WorldWar II, a group of Colombianinvestors founded one of themost important insurancecompanies in the country: Se-guros Bolivar. Strong growthover the next several yearshelped Seguros Bolivar growinto a financial group, and twomore companies were estab-

lished in 1948 – a general in-surance company and a savingsand capitalization corporation.

The next several decadeswitnessed huge expansion forthe Bolivar group under theleadership of Enrique Cortes,one of the original founders,and later under hisnephew, Jose Ale-jandro Cortes.

In 1972, GrupoBolivar, along withvarious other insur-ance companies and abank, set up Banco Da-vivienda, a savings andmortgage bank. Fouryears ago, Grupo Bolivarbought 99% of BancoDavivienda’s shares, andwith this purchase alsoacquired affiliates Fid-

ucafe S.A., Bancafe Panamaand Bancafe Internacional Mi-ami, thus strengthening itspresence abroad.

At home in Colombia, thegroup is one of the most im-portant players in the financialsector, and as such, is the part-ner of choice for a good num-ber of foreign companies.“Many American and Euro-

pean companies we work withcome here,” explains Mr.Cortes. “I think that we arethe ones who mostly workwith U.S. and European in-surance companies andbanks.”

The year 2011 brings twoimportant changes in the company’s direction. InMarch, Jose Alejandro Cortes

stepped down aspresident, leavingthe group in thecapable hands ofhis son, Miguel.Earlier in the yearGrupo Bolivaradded a new ac-tivity to its port-folio when itestablished Viva-Colombia, a low-cost airline, withpartners GrupoFast, Iamsa andIrelandia.

GRUPO BOLIVAR

Financial group goesfrom strength to strengthExciting changes are in the air for Grupo Bolivar, one of Colombia’s key financial groups

UNE is a Colombian telecomscompany established in 2006as part of Empresas Publicasde Medellin (EPM), Medellin’s55-year-old public utilities com-pany. UNE was founded asColombia’s response to foreigntelecoms giants, such as Spain’sTelefonica and Mexico’s Telmexand America Movil.

It was no coincidence thatUNE’s 2006 break into the mar-ket coincided with the FIFAWorld Cup. A television spotcame on directly after the finalgame on August 9 for the great-est impact and largest viewingaudience, under the promise:“All in UNE for a simpler world”.For the rest of the year, UNEnearly doubled its revenues, andby 2007 it had become one ofthe leading providers of broad-band services.

A reference in Colombia’s tele-coms sector, UNE is pursuing anambitious internationalizationstrategy, making incursions in-to the U.S. and Europe throughits business unit Orbitel, whichoffers prepaid phone cards, cel-lular plans, and virtual numbers,among other services.

“When we began the process,we activated our prepaid com-panies in the U.S. We used theseproducts as our spearhead tounderstand the behavior of thesemarkets, not just to sell cards,”explains Horacio Velez de Bed-out, president of UNE. “Simul-taneously, we began working onprepaid mobiles since we no-ticed the Latin-American com-munities abroad transferredmoney using online paymentsor remittances. We achieved ahigh level of reliability in ourcard; we now are introducing aSIM card that users can takewith them abroad to be able to

use our company services whilethey are traveling.

“We have a relatively smallcompany in the U.S. and it hasspread throughout differentstates. From there we reachedCanada, and from Spain we gotto England. Since we can offerour international services froma duty-free zone, it means wedo not have to pay taxes inColombia, and services can beexchanged for equipment im-portation. It also means we canimport and export minutesfrom a duty-free zone underthe Vallejo policy.”

So as to become more com-petitive and achieve an evenhigher rate of customer satis-faction – the company alreadyranks number one in manycategories) – UNE has begundeploying HP network man-agement technology to im-prove service quality. UNE’sdiverse networks, which in-clude fixed and mobile tele-phony, VOIP, high-speedInternet, cable TV, entertain-ment and business services, willbenefit from consolidated ser-vice assurance thanks to HP’soperations support system.

UNE

Dialing into the U.S. and EU marketsLocal telecoms player UNE has found success in venturing abroad

HORACIO VELEZ DEBEDOUT

President of UNE

JOSE ALEJANDROCORTES, formerPresident, and

MIGUEL CORTESKOTAL, current

President of GrupoBolivar

Originally called Grupo Na-cional de Chocolates, theconglomerate very recentlychanged its name to GrupoNutresa to better reflect itsbroadened focus on coldcuts, coffee, ice cream, cook-ies and pasta, in addition tochocolate.

Today with a 60% marketshare, Nutresa is Colombia’sleading processed food com-pany and ranks among theLatin American food sector’stop 10 regional players. Saleshit $2.52 billion in 2010 andthough this was lower thanthe 2009 results ($2.59 bil-lion) – due to the devaluationof the Venezuelan currency– shareholder dividends roseby over 5%.

Aside from venturing intonew foods, the 90-year-oldgroup has also been exploring opportunitiesabroad.

“In the last decade we’vemade over 15 investmentsfrom Peru to the U.S., goingthrough Panama, Costa Ricaand Mexico, where we haveindustrial operations,”says CarlosPiedrahita, presi-dent of Grupo Nu-tresa. “We havebuilt a commer-cial web in 11

countries in the region, suc-cessfully taking our brandsand products to millions ofconsumers and also export-ing to Europe, Africa andSoutheast Asia.”

Despite recent acquisitionsin the U.S. and the Dominican Republic, Mr.Piedrahita, who has led Nu-tresa’s aggressive interna-tionalization policies for overa decade, says that the group’sforeign sales represent just30% of the total, a numberhe plans to increase if it is tobecome a truly global com-pany.

Earlier this month, Nutre-sa broke records on theColombian Stock Exchange,when its sale of 25 millionshares was met with a de-mand 17 times higher. Thegroup sought to raise $295million, yet investors eager-ly responded with offers top-ping $5 billion.

Other merits this year in-clude the group’s inclusionin the SAM Group’s Sus-tainability Yearbook 2011,the world’s most compre-

hensive report regardingcorporate sustainabili-ty. Nutresa is the onlyLatin American food

company and the firstColombian firm to be

highlighted in this list.

GRUPO NUTRESA

Foreign sales are sweet forbusinessGrupo Nutresa’s international growth means highquality treats for a larger market

CARLOSPIEDRAHITAPresident of

Grupo Nutresa

VivaColombia, Grupo Bolivar’s newest project, is expected to take flight by the end of 2012

With client focus as a startingpoint, IM commits to perma-nent revision of human talent,importance of procedure, andgeneration of spaces for devel-opment. “You don’t develop forgrowth unless you also growfor production,” states ErnestoFajardo Pinto, president of IM.

Operating 34 companies in11 countries, exporting to 17nations, and delivering to 700municipalities in Colombia, IMleads its field and cultivates ac-tivities in the chemicals, paints,commerce, dyes, containers,tubing, logistical and servicesectors. The firm registers an-nual sales of $1-2 billion, witha labor force of 5,000 people

and a presence in Mexico, Ar-gentina, Chile, Central Amer-ica, the Caribbean and mostrecently, Brazil.

Under the guidance of Mr.Fajardo, IM is a conjunction ofcompanies with internationalcharacter. Leaders in the LatinAmerican marketplace, they“turn up the volume of actionevery day with emphasis on the

strength of operations and thesearch for new commerce”.

Economists and journalistsalike turn to Mr. Fajardo forprojections of social and in-dustrial market trends, perhapsbecause of IM’s significant de-votion of 15-20% of businesstowards new investments andinternational negotiations.

Quality is Mr. Fajardo’s lead-

ing factor. He aims to partici-pate in every market sector, pre-sent solutions according to eachneed, aggressively target inno-vation, and market reengi-neering.

“Our history,” he says, “de-rives from innovation and thecreative capacity to invent abusiness.” There are four strate-gic units: commerce based onthe branding and distributionof imports; paints, for whichIM ranks first in Colombia andsecond in Ecuador andVenezuela; chemical resins andtubing; and water services andtreatment.

IM will build 10 model hous-es this year and Mr. Fajardo iscurrently working with engi-neers from Brazil, Spain andDenmark to develop materialsfrom eco-friendly polyesterresins. “We are focusing on pro-ducing less expensive infra-structure to support local andnational governments in theconstruction of more sustain-able cities through time,” he says.

Over half a century ago, JuanValdez and his trusty mule,Conchita, made a humble ap-pearance on the world mar-keting stage, representingColombian coffee as a friend-ly and accessible commodity.

Today, 51 years later, a newversion of Mr. Valdez contin-ues his journey throughoutthe world, reminding peopleof the pleasure they can getfrom each sip of the rich, vel-vety and life-infusing brew.

Procafecol was establishedin 2002 by the National Fed-eration of Colombian CoffeeGrowers, coinciding with theinauguration of the first JuanValdez Cafe in Bogota. From

2004 onwards, Procafecol be-gan opening more shops inColombia and in 2006, onceit had created a holding com-pany, it started distributinghigh quality Juan Valdez prod-ucts through new distributionchannels, including depart-ment stores.

The year 2005 marked Pro-

cafecol’s expansion into theinternational arena, when itopened Juan Valdez Cafes inthe U.S. and Spain. Now, cof-fee lovers in Chile andEcuador can also enjoy a fresh-ly brewed cup of Colombiancoffee, a coffee shake, a frozencoffee drink, and a temptingvariety of bakery goods.

The shops also sell pack-ages of Juan Valdez “gourmetselection” sustainable coffeeto prepare at home. When thefictitious Juan Valdez turned50 last year, the companylaunched various initiativesto reinforce the brand aroundthe world.

The legendary coffee grow-er got his very own website(www.juanvaldez.com) wherevisitors can learn more aboutthe character and the coffeegrowers he represents. In linewith his newer image, JuanValdez has his very own Twit-ter and Facebook accounts.

In the first half of 2010, JuanValdez took to the road andvisited the U.S., where Pro-cafecol’s 100% ColombianCoffee program has been ahit. New Yorkers, Chicagoans,Los Angelinos, Miamians andSeattleites were served 4,800free cups of 100% Colombiancoffee. Lest Juan’s compatriotsbe miffed, he also visited 18cities and towns aroundColombia on a “Juan Valdez 50years: the road ahead” tour.

The 100% Colombian cof-fee advertising campaign,with the slogan “What’s be-hind the world’s best coffee?”reached 84 million people inthe U.S. between 2009 and2010, through the printedpress (People magazine), tele-vision, and Internet (Face-book, Twitter and YouTube).Coffee drinkers were reas-sured that Juan Valdez repre-sents quality, taste andsustainability.

HERNAN MENDEZPresident of Procafecol

PROCAFECOL

Coffee firm delivers a global fix

INVERSIONES MUNDIAL

A tradition of advancing investment

Juan Valdez is synonymouswith a good ‘cup of Joe’.The company behind thegrowing international chainof Juan Valdez Cafes,Procafecol S.A., is lessfamous yet no less important

Since 1921 InversionesMundial (IM) has activelyparticipated in wholesalecommerce – bringingcommercial and industrialdevelopment to all cornersof Colombia, expandingoperations to a globalmarket

ERNESTO FAJARDO PINTO, President of Inversiones Mundial




COLOMBIA

Servientrega is a true successstory of hard work, dedicationand sacrifice. It is a small cargotransport and logistics compa-ny that was built by a brother-sister team from the countrysidewho discovered an underservedniche in the market, and thoughthey started with practicallynothing, their company nowboasts an international pres-ence. Co-founder and presidentof Servientrega Mary Luz Guer-rero recalls the initial days whenthey would get up at 4am tostand in line for the shared show-er at the Bogota boarding housewhere they rented rooms.

“We traveled by foot becausewe couldn’t afford public trans-portation,” she says. “We wouldpersonally pick up deliveries andsend them to their destination,where we had contactsthat would pick themup and take them toour clients. We fi-nanced our companythrough loan sharks,pawn houses andour own savings be-cause we didn’t qual-ify for a loan fromthe financial system.”

Once businessstarted to pick up,Miss Guerrero and herbrother, Jesus, bought a smallvehicle to make deliveries, andthen eventually leased a smallfleet of vehicles. With time,they expanded to Cali,Medellin and Barranquilla.

Advertising was done viaword of mouth at neighborhoodparties, flyers, microphones, andany other basic communicationmeans available. “A sort of mag-ic began to grow aroundServientrega,” says Miss Guer-rero, and thus business boomed.

“Servientrega is a family busi-ness, maybe that is why we areso close to our people, to ourclients. We are an extended fam-ily, not a cold and exclusive com-

pany where the executive levelis distanced from the rest of theemployees. On the contrary, ourcloseness, our warmth and ourteamwork distinguish us,” claimsMiss Guerrero.

“We have a succession plan sothat our people’s legacy may bemultiplied by every collabora-tor that works with future gen-erations in preparing them toembrace new challenges insidethe organization whether it isin Colombia or in any othercountry.”

Today, Servientrega managesmost of Colombia’s express de-liveries, including documents,merchandise, and valuables,and also provides storage, in-company solutions, and an in-ternational moving service.Servientrega’s Global Box is aunique service that allows clientsto send their documents, mer-chandise and Internet purchas-es to Global Box’s physicaladdress in Miami, from whereServientrega then forwards iton to the client’s destination.

The Colombian company hasalready consolidated itself athome and abroad in countriesincluding Ecuador, Venezuelaand Peru. Its business model inPanama has been so successfulthat the Guerrero team plans tocopy it in Brazil and the rest ofCentral America. “For Panamato keep on growing, we need tobe present in the rest of the re-gion; it is a two-way business,”explains the company president.

Plans for the business in-clude a continuation of the re-structuring of the company’sinfrastructure, maintainingownership and control overone part and outsourcing therest. “This makes it possible forus to be more flexible and light,guaranteeing short and long-term self-sufficiency, capacityand security,” she adds. “Wenow move our operations withabsolute liberty, sharing partof our space with our nation-al and international colleagues.

This has undoubtedly beena positive move that has giv-en us strength and inde-pendence in the region.”

Servientrega is also committed to helping fel-low Colombians in need,especially in areas thegovernment is unable tocover. The Guerrero siblings created the Successful WomenFoundation (Fundacion

Mujeres de Exito) to help in-volve women in science, pol-itics and culture, improvingtheir quality of life. The com-pany also founded the GiveYourself to Colombia Corpo-ration (Corporacion Entre-gate a Colombia), whichpromotes the founding of newbusinesses by offering training.

Miss Guerrero says other ini-tiatives include the Giving Fes-tival to encourage ecologicalconsumption, and the GivingPhilosophy, in which Servien-trega delivers “lives, dreams,love, ideas, businesses, andhopes. This is the true essenceof any package we deliver.”

SERVIENTREGA

Family run cargo firmretains its personal touchStarting from the groundup, Servientrega is morethan a mere courier service

With transparent financialstatements, solid profits andprudent regulation, Colom-bia’s financial sector today ischiefly controlled by localplayers. This is due in largepart to historical events ofthe 1980s, which deterredmany foreign investors fromentering the country.

“Our financial system wasnot eagerly or desperatelywaiting to be bought by biginternational banks and to-day it is almost completelymanaged by Colombians,” ex-plains Luis Carlos Sarmien-to Gutierrez, president andson of the CEO of Colom-bia’s largest banking con-glomerate, Grupo AvalAcciones y Valores S.A.

The holding owns con-trolling interests in four lead-ing Colombian banks (BancoAV Villas, Banco de Occi-dente Credencial, Banco deBogota, and Banco Popular),as well as a merchant bank,Colombia’s largest pensionfund manager, and several fi-nancial subsidiaries.

Although Grupo Aval hasaround $100 billion in assets

under management and rep-resent nearly one-third of allassets in Colombia’s finan-cial sector, the group showsno signs of slowing down.Last year, Grupo Aval pur-chased 100% of BAC-Credo-matic – formerly controlledby General Electric Co. – for$1.9 billion.

This investment increasedGrupo Aval’s presence in theregion, strategically placing itin seven Central Americancountries where it had notpreviously been. “We havealso obtained higher partic-ipation in credit card insur-ance in Central America. Webill about 33% of all the cred-it cards at BAC and now wehave 62% market share in theso-called acquisition,” saysMr. Sarmiento Gutierrez.

More recently, in May thisyear Grupo Aval’s board ofdirectors approved an oper-ation to increase its partici-pation in Colombia’s BancoPopular from 30.7% to 93.7%.In addition, Grupo Aval ispreparing to list its shares onWall Street, becoming the10th Colombian company

with American DepositaryReceipts (ADRs) on theNorth American stock ex-change. With this move, theholding company expects toraise between $500 millionand $1 billion in funds whichcan then perhaps be used to acquire more banks inCentral America and theCaribbean.

“We would love to haveforeign investment now,” saysMr. Sarmiento Gutierrez. “AtGrupo Aval you wouldachieve a solid investmentbased on 30 years of experi-ence and constant growth.Besides, we offer safe divi-dend distribution policiesand asset-value incrementpolicies.”

Thanks to its organicgrowth and new capitaliza-tions, the group’s presidentexpects Grupo Aval’s profitsto rise by 60% to $834 millionin 2011.

GRUPO AVAL

Financial holding hopesto attract investmentOwned by Colombians, Grupo Aval is spreading its reach throughout the region

MARY LUZ GUERRERO Co-founder and President ofServientrega

LUIS CARLOS SARMIENTO GUTIERREZ, President, and LUIS CARLOS SARMIENTO ANGULO, CEO of Grupo Aval




national and international of-fices, Proexport provides sup-port and integrated financialservices and advice for inter-national trade activities, whilefacilitating the design and ex-ecution of each investor’s strat-egy that aims to generate,develop and close businessdeals.

They promote the effectiveinsertion of Colombian com-panies into international mar-kets and seek internationaltrade opportunities through:identifying market opportu-nities, designing market pen-etration strategies, assisting inthe design of action plans, con-tact with both sellers and buy-ers, and specialized servicesto foreign companies inter-

ested in acquiring Colombiangoods and services.

Proexport supports foreigninvestors by serving as a con-tact with the public and privatesectors and organizing agen-das and accompanying the potential investor while inColombia. The agency also es-corts investors through the in-stallation process. Proexportsprovides all their services freeof charge and keeps all infor-mation confidential.

Foreign investors that wentthrough Proexport were di-vided into six sectors in 2009-2010. Financial investors madeup 35%, manufacturers 25%,commercial, restaurants andhotels 23%, and construction11%. Community services andagriculture made up 4% andalmost 2% respectively.

With the help of Proexport,companies like Starwood Ho-tels, Hewlett Packard (HP),SEB, and Siemens have all beena success in Colombia.

Starwoods Hotels and Re-sorts has begun constructionon their Ocean Towers projectin Cartagena, a large Caribbeanbeach resort city on the north-ern coast of Colombia, andopening is slated for next year.

HP has launched CenterGlobal Services, a project withthe most important invest-ments that have been made inColombia in a company by amultinational leader in tech-nology.

SEB, a French company thatsells home products bought68% of the Colombian FirmIMUSA, also a home products

store. With this transaction theFrench company is waiting tomake an aggressive move intothe national market throughits recent strategy in purchas-ing a local market player.

Siemens opened a technol-ogy factory with high-speedproductivity after a €70 millioninvestment.

Proexport deals with pro-moting international tourism,direct foreign investments anddirect foreign exports. Todaythere are more than 2,500multinational businesses op-erating in Colombia with open-ings for more. The agency hasidentified 14 hotel projects inBogota, Girardot, Pereira, andCartagena that need investors.

Despite the fact manyeconomies have taken hardhits, Colombia’s economy hasdemonstrated its resistance.In September 2010, the U.S.made up 34.4% of the totalforeign investments inColombia. That said, 40% ofinvestment from the U.S. isin the industrial sector.

Colombia has gone to greatlengths to improve its busi-ness environment. In the pastfive years, the economy grewby 4% each year and in 2009the country’s GDP registeredan increase of 0.4%, a positivegrowth in the time of reces-sion.

In addition, Colombia is al-so an ideal export platform,with the advantage of havingsigned trade agreements. Thisgives a company preferentialaccess to markets that extendto more than 1.5 billion con-sumers, a circumstance that isonly enhanced by Colombia’sideal location.

Lastly, Colombia providesincentives for investors. In its2011 Doing Business Report,the World Bank rankedColombia as the third mostbusiness-friendly country inLatin America and the firstcountry in the region that bestprotects investors. Some ofthese incentives for investorsinclude: free trade zones, a 50%tax break on sales in the localmarket, legal stability con-tracts, and a 125% income taxdeduction over investments inscientific and technological de-velopments, to name but a few.

The most competitive freetrade zones in Latin Americaare in Colombia. Permanentfree trade zones are geo-graphical areas of no less than20 hectares, where variouscompanies can establish them-selves to operate.

Free trade zones serve veryspecific purposes, all of whichmust be used for the develop-

ment of industrial goods andservices or commercial activ-ities. These zones must be aninstrument for job creation andattract new capital invest-ments. They must develophighly productive and com-petitive industrial processes,within the parameters of secu-rity, transparency, technology,

clean production and soundcorporate practices.

Under new regulation, freetrade zones are conceived notonly as mechanisms to attractnew investments and createjobs, but as an incentive to de-velop highly productive andcompetitive industrial process-es with a substantial techno-logical innovation component.

The free trade zone in Bo-

gota is likely one of the largestzones that helps to generate in-vestments and provide jobs.Presently, the 226 companiesthat make up the Bogota FreeTrade Zone generate 16,000direct jobs for call center posi-tions. This particular free tradezone has contributed to em-ployment generation and the

arrival of new foreign and do-mestic firms belonging to thisservice sector.

One agency that has beenvery versatile in working withinterested investors in freetrade zones is Proexport.

Proexport is in charge of pro-moting non-traditional ex-ports, international tourism,and foreign investments inColombia. With a network of


COLOMBIA

Mutually beneficialfree trade agreements

Once ratified, the compre-hensive free trade agreement(FTA) between the UnitedStates and Colombia will elim-inate tariffs and other barriersto trade in goods and services,promoting economic growthand job creation for both na-tions.

“The FTA is an opportuni-ty for Colombia to move itselfonto a positive fast track,” saysAlvaro Uribe Velez, 58th Pres-ident of Colombia from 2002-2010, under whom theproposed U.S.-Colombia FTAwas originally signed. “Theagreement will challenge andenable Colombia to start pro-jects on its infrastructure thatwe have always wanted to dobut have not been able to ex-ecute.”

Colombia’s economy is thethird largest in Central andSouth America and already hasan important economic rela-tionship with the U.S. Goodsand services exports from theU.S. to Colombia in 2010 were

$12 billion. Both economiesare largely complementary re-garding the goods exchanged.Colombia imports grains fromthe U.S. while it exports a number of tropical fruits. TheU.S. exports cotton, yarn, and fabric to Colombia that is used in many apparel itemsthat Colombia exports back tothe U.S.

The International TradeCommittee has estimated thatthe tariff reductions in thepassing of this agreement willprovide significant new accessto Colombia’s $166 billion ser-vice market, supporting in-creased opportunities for U.S.service providers. In general,the agreement will supportmore American jobs, increaseexports, and enhance com-petitiveness.

Camilo Reyes, the executivedirector of the Colombian-American Chamber of Com-merce, says, “The FTA not onlyhas all the meaning of theworld from the point of viewof exports, trade and invest-ment; it also has a meaningfrom the political point of view– to overcome a vision inwhich the U.S. and LatinAmerica were not able to worktogether as two major blocsand furthermore there was a

certain polarization betweenthem.”

“Signing the FTA will helpus work tirelessly on the areasof common interest such asthe environment, technologytransfer and education,” saysPresident Santos. The UnitedStates has to look south moreoften. That is where their truestrategic interests lie. There isgreat potential waiting at thesouth of Rio Grande to exploitthe goods the world is de-

manding right now such as energy, biodiversity, and foodproduction amidst a youngpopulation and a growing mar-ket. There is a natural syner-gy amongst the Americas andI believe it should be exploit-ed more efficiently.”

The FTA is a huge histori-cal opportunity for Colombiafor many reasons. Over 80%of U.S. exports of consumerand industrial products to

Colombia will become dutyfree immediately, with re-maining tariffs phased out over10 years.

Many agricultural com-modities will also benefit fromthe agreement, as more thanhalf of the current U.S. farm ex-ports to Colombia will becomeduty free immediately and allremaining tariffs will be elim-inated within 15 years.

In addition to the FTA withColombia, the U.S. has pend-ing trade agreements withPanama and South Korea al-so waiting to be ratified. Cur-rently, however, these tradeagreements with all threecountries remain stalled in theU.S. Congress as a result of ide-ological differences betweenthe Republican and Democ-ratic parties.

According to the Interna-tional Trade Committee, totalnet benefits that would comefrom these trade agreementsamount to around $13 billion.

On July 7, the U.S. SenateFinance Committee voted toapprove the U.S.-ColombiaFTA bill in a mock markup ses-sion.

“We applaud the bipartisanmajorities in the U.S. Senatecommittee in favor of the FTA,”responded President Santos.

Since 2006, when the freetrade agreement (FTA) wassigned with the UnitedStates, Colombia has beenon the verge of enteringinto the biggest market inthe world

‘THE FTA IS UNIQUE IN THE SENSETHAT IT NOT ONLY COVERS TRADEIN GOODS AND SERVICES, BUTALSO CONTAINS A WORK CHAPTERTHAT GUARANTEES THE RIGHTS OF

WORKERS IN BOTH COUNTRIES’JUAN MANUEL SANTOS, President of the Republic of Colombia

‘YOU HAVE TO VISIT THE COUNTRYAND TALK TO THE UNIONS WHOSUPPORT THE AGREEMENT ANDNOT JUST TO THOSE WHO AREAGAINST IT IN ORDER TO GET A

REAL IDEA OF WHAT THE TRADE UNIONSITUATION IS IN COLOMBIA’JAVIER DIAZ MOLINA, President of Analdex

‘THE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT (FTA)MEANS AN ADVANTAGE FORFOREIGN INVESTORS. WE ARE ONLYTWO HOURS AWAY FROM THE U.S.,AND COMBINED WITH THE

KNOWLEDGE THAT OUR PROFESSIONALSHAVE IN ADDITION TO THE FACILITIESOFFERED BY THE INEXHAUSTIBLE RAWMATERIALS THAT THE COUNTRY HAS,COLOMBIA IS AN EXCELLENT CHOICE FORFOREIGN INVESTORS. BARRANQUILLA WILLUNDOUBTEDLY PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLEIN THIS NEW RELATIONSHIP THAT OPENSWITH THE U.S. THANKS TO THE FTA’FUAD CHAR, Senator and President of Olimpica

‘THE FTA IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE ITWILL OPEN FOR COLOMBIA AMARKET OF 300 MILLIONINHABITANTS WITH AN INCOMEPER CAPITA OF ABOUT $30,000 PER

YEAR. THAT IS THE POSSIBILITY OF ENTERINGA MARKET WITH NO TARIFFS FORCOLOMBIAN PRODUCTS AND WHERE THEAGRICULTURAL SECTOR HAS IMPORTANTNICHES TO WORK’JUAN CAMILO RESTREPO, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

‘THE SIGNING OF THE FTA IS ASUCCESS TO STRENGTHEN ANDCONSOLIDATE COLOMBIA’S TRADEAGENDA WITH THE UNITED STATES,OUR LARGEST TRADING PARTNER.

MANY OF THE THINGS THAT THE WORLD ISDEMANDING CAN BE OFFERED BYCOLOMBIA: FOOD, BIOFUEL, BUSINESSOPPORTUNITIES, EXPANSION OFINVESTMENT. WHAT COLOMBIA OFFERS THEWORLD TODAY ARE OPPORTUNITIES’SERGIO DIAZ GRANADOS, Minister of Industry, Tourism and Commerce

‘THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEENCOLOMBIA AND THE UNITEDSTATES HAS CHANGED ANDCHANGED FOR GOOD. NOW IT IS,AND MUST BE, A RELATIONSHIP OF

TWO-WAY OPPORTUNITIES. AN INVESTMENTRELATIONSHIP. A RECIPROCAL TRADE,DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACY, AND FREEDOMOF PEOPLE RELATIONSHIP. IT HAS ALWAYSBEEN A RELATIONSHIP IN WHICH COLOMBIAHAS BEEN A GREAT POLITICAL ALLY, BUTNOW IT MUST BECOME AN ALLY OF JOINTPARTNER OPPORTUNITIES’CARLOS ENRIQUE PIEDRAHITA, President of Grupo Nutresa

The most competitive free trade zones in the region

www.ceacolombia.comwww.investincolombia.com.cowww.ccc.org.cowww.probarranquilla.org www.investinbogota.orgwww.acimedellin.org

Colombia’s economy is on the rise giving foreign investors many reasons to be a part of its growth and Proexport is helping investors get the most out of its free trade zones

MARIA CLAUDIA LACOUTURE, President of Proexport

Quotes

Websites

Goods and services exports from the U.S. to Colombia in 2010 amounted to $12 billion


ON JULY 7 THE U.S.SENATE FINANCECOMMITTEE VOTEDTO APPROVE THE U.S.-COLOMBIA FTA BILLTHAT WAS SIGNED IN2006 AND APPROVEDBY COLOMBIA’SCONGRESS IN 2008



COLOMBIA


Straight out of the gate in Oc-tober of last year, President San-tos announced that thegovernment would invest $3billion over the next four yearsin ICT infrastructure as part ofthe new President’s Democra-tic Prosperity platform, whichaims to create equality of op-portunity and narrow pros-perity gaps.

Entitled Vive Digital (Digi-tal Living) Colombia, the pro-gram aims to significantlyexpand Colombia’s ICT indus-try and infrastructure whilepromoting increased nation-wide Internet usage.

Vive Digital aims to strength-en the entire digital ecosystem, from in-frastructure, services,and applications toend-users.

“Vive Digital is amodel of inclusion anddigital-gap reductionby means of an ecosys-tem which identifies de-velopment levers for thenew economy, thatis, the economyof knowledge, in-formation andclean technologies,”says Minister of Telecommu-

nications Diego Molano Vega. “This forms part of the main

objectives that President San-tos has established for his gov-ernment, which include povertyreduction, job generation andpeace consolidation through im-provements in the country’scompetitiveness and produc-tivity. It is not about turningColombia into a Silicon Valley.It is about providing a logicalbalance between its rapidgrowth and technology pene-tration in society.”

Vive Digital aims to increaseInternet connections across thecountry from 3.2 million to 8.8million, connecting at least halfof the nation’s households, andwill more than triple the num-ber of communities connectedto the web (from 200 to 700)through fiber-optic networks.The plan also intends to increaseInternet connections amongsmall and medium-sized com-panies, which make up 96% ofthe Colombian economy, from

a current penetration low of 7%to 50% by 2014.

Colombia is already at the re-gional forefront of various ICT-related initiatives. Last summer,the country inaugurated a newbioinformatics center, one of thefirst in Latin America. Expect-ed to be a vital tool in Colom-bia’s technological development,the center will process and storedata, as well as develop softwareand offer technical and scien-tific support to companies.

Colombia was the LatinAmerican country with thegreatest growth in Internet use in 2009, with more than a

million new subscribers, ofwhich 915,000 were cell phone-based. In the first quarter oflast year, investment in the In-ternet grew 50% over the sameperiod in 2009. Bogota’s Mu-seum of Modern Art can nowbe accessed through an iPhoneapplication, another LatinAmerican first.

Similarly, though Colombiais already number one in elec-tronic government in the re-gion according to a UN study,the government has declared itsintentions to set an example bydigitalizing all its departmentsand eliminating paper use by2014. In addition, Colombia’snew communications satellite,Satcol, will be launched at thebeginning of 2013, providingtelecommunications access tomore than 22,000 rural com-munities.

Colombia has embarkedon a plan to expandtechnology infrastructureand Internet usage,especially amongbusinesses and ruralcommunities, throughgreater fiber-opticnetworks

Colombia is offering interna-tional companies $200 mil-lion to help develop itsInternet infrastructure as itlaunches a nationwide ITCdevelopment program calledVive Digital, or Digital Living.This opens up a range of op-portunities for U.S. compa-nies wanting to move in,especially those with an eye onthe larger regional market asneighboring countries, espe-cially Brazil, are likely to fol-low Colombia’s example.

“The implementation ofVive Digital will create sever-al business opportunities. Asfar as infrastructure is con-cerned, we need to build alarge fiber-optic informationhighway to connect more than700 communities. Conse-quently, we will send out atender, and we are hoping forthe involvement of both na-tional and international in-vestors. The project has an

estimated cost of $600 mil-lion and the government willmake an initial investment of$200 million,” explains Min-ister of TelecommunicationsDiego Molano Vega.

“Similarly, we will widen theinfrastructure scope to offerthird and fourth generationservices and we will expandconnectivity coverage to rur-al areas with diverse tech-nologies.”

The government has said itwill also offer at least two new4G licenses later this year. Al-

though cell phone penetra-tion in the country is 100%(there are more cell phonesthan people in Colombia),new technologies will allowfor the introduction of smart

phones and new cellular ap-plications. The government isalso intent on developing itsbudding software develop-ment sector, and in particular,is targeting the creation of newapplications that will makeconnectivity more appealingto the nation’s small and medi-um-sized companies.

“In order to boost Internetuse, we must offer applica-tions that suit the needs ofColombians and their busi-nesses in addition to offeringquality services and appro-priation strategies that lead toincreasing use of technologyamong Colombians,” adds theMinister.

New companies moving in-to Colombia will join the ranksof the many internationalnames already operatingthere, such as Spain’s Tele-fonica, Paraguay’s Tigo, andMexico’s America Movil andTelmex – as well as nationalleaders UNE and Comcel – inan increasingly sophisticatedmarket.

Still, Colombia is interest-ed in the arrival of U.S. tech-nology and the governmenthas already been in talks withseveral American compa-nies, including Verizon andAT&T.

Plan Vive Digital widens connectivityThe government is incentivizing the private sector to help Colombia extend its digital infrastructure and bring in newtechnologies and software

“We are not a country that isespecially adept at languages,but the government has madean effort to develop this abili-ty in the country in order tomake us more competitive,”says Jose Roberto Sierra Velez,president of Allus Global BPOColombia.

Government efforts to in-crease Colombia’s capacity asa knowledge-based societyhave boosted new industries,such as business process out-sourcing (BPO). Recent ini-tiatives include last year’slaunch of Vive Digital Colom-bia, as well as Medellin’s cen-ter for the promotion ofinnovation for knowledge-based industries Ruta N, andthe new Colombian Center forBioinformatics and Compu-tational Biology in the city ofManizales for data processingand software development.

Providing online and onsitelanguage training throughSENA, the Ministry of SocialProtection’s national learningservice, is another of the ini-tiatives that have turned vari-ous Colombian cities, such asManizales, into new globalBPO hubs.

“Manizales has become awonderful hub for call centersand BPO companies. Manyforeign investors have chosenthis city to invest their moneyand set up their businesses,”says Caldas Department Gov-ernor Mario Aristizabal abouthis region’s capital.

These developments havenot gone unnoticed by theworld’s largest BPO conglom-erates. Colombia now boasts anumber of multinationals op-erating in the sector includingFrance’s Teleperformance, con-sidered to be a global BPOleader, in addition to a numberof companies from India – theworld’s largest BPO industry –including Sutherland GlobalServices and Flatworld Solu-tions (operating as ColombiaOutsourcing Solutions). Gen-pact, India’s largest BPO com-pany, is set to arrive soon.Spanish companies Avanza,Konecta, Emergia and Tele-mark are also present, and theU.S. has a presence throughcompanies such as Manpow-er and Convergys.

“The arrival of new cus-tomers in the country hasprompted companies to ex-pand their installed capacity,with an impressive increasein call center jobs, mainly lo-cated in Medellin, Pereira andManizales,” says Rodrigo Fer-reira Londoño, director ofEmtelco, one of Colombia’slargest telecoms services com-panies.

Emtelco won the Frost & Sullivan Award for GrowthLeadership in the contact cen-ter/outsourcing services mar-ket last year for demonstrating

excellence in capturing thehighest annual compoundgrowth rate for the previousthree years. Emtelco increasedits revenues close to 20% in2009, which placed it amongthe country’s top five BPOcompanies for the first time.

Indeed, Colombia’s contactcenters alone generated rev-enues of $550 million in 2009,or roughly 60% of the sector’stotal revenue, and the industryis hoping to up this to $2 bil-lion by 2012. A sign of the sec-tor’s rapid growth is also seenin its number of employees. In2008 it employed 55,000 peo-ple. Within the next three years,this figure is expected to reach155,000. Analysts concur thatthe government’s clear poli-cies have been a significant contributor in the growth ofBPO in Colombia, in additionto a solid legal framework anda favorable business climate.

“We intend to support andstrengthen two industries thatare fundamental for Colom-bian technological develop-ment: software and BPO. Thegovernment is promoting

many incentives to provide aspace where both industriesmay flourish,” says Minister ofTelecommunications DiegoMolano Vega, who adds thatColombia’s returning expatswill also contribute to the de-velopment of knowledge-based industries. “There istalent in Colombia. There wasan exodus of Colombians atthe end of the 90s. Now allthese professionals are com-ing back en masse and bring-ing with them a global visionand international experience.”

The efforts of people likeAna Karina Quessep have al-so been essential in developingthe sector. The executive di-rector of the Colombian As-sociation of Contact Centersand BPO was awarded the In-ternational Teleservices Cham-pion Award in Florida lastOctober for her efforts in thepositioning, strengthening andexpansion of Colombia’s con-tact centers and BPO industry.It was the fourth consecutiveyear that the award went toColombia.

BPO boosted by a risingknowledge-based economy Colombia is becoming a popular new base for businessprocess outsourcing (BPO) and contact centers

‘WE NEED TO BUILDA LARGE FIBER-OPTICINFORMATIONHIGHWAY TOCONNECT MORETHAN 700COMMUNITIES...THEPROJECT HAS ANESTIMATED COST OF$600 MILLION’

‘WE MUST OFFERAPPLICATIONS THATSUIT THE NEEDS OFCOLOMBIANS ANDTHEIR BUSINESSES IN ADDITION TOOFFERING QUALITYSERVICES ANDAPPROPRIATIONSTRATEGIES’

ANA KARINA QUESSEP, ExecutiveDirector of the Colombian Associationof Contact Centers and BPO

Diego Molano Vega, Minister of

Telecommunications

Colombia, at the regionalforefront of ICT




COLOMBIA

A Pacific Ocean gatewayto ColombiaWhile economic and social de-velopments, growing compa-nies, and the civil mindset of theresidents all contribute to this re-gion’s appeal, its geographic po-sition is perhaps its mostprofound advantage. Locatednear the Pacific Ocean, CaucaValley has the greatest potentialto explode economically com-pared to its neighbors.

Francisco Jose Lourido, Gov-ernor of the Cauca Valley, is de-termined to help this regionreach its fullest potential. “Re-activating production with so-

cial responsibility, improving thequality of education and health,generating employment withthe development of new pro-ductive activities and trans-forming the export capacity ofthe region are only some of thegoals the Valley is facing to putitself in the national export leaderposition that it deserves,” he stat-ed in his article A CompetitiveDepartment: An Effort FromEveryone.

Two substantial projects arecurrently in motion that willconsolidate the Pacific Region

and open up many doors to Cau-ca Valley and its agricultural andbusiness economies.

The first is a new road thatconnects the south of the coun-try to Buenaventura, one of theprimary routes on the Pacificcoast, that will reduce time anddistance, becoming the most ef-ficient road and way of import-ing and exporting goods.

The second project is a roadto the Orinoquia Region, theeastern plains of Colombia, thatcould connect the port of south-ern Colombia to Venezuela in

the future, opening up more pos-sibilities for the economy toflourish. “These two ambitiousprojects will greatly impact theinfrastructure of the nationalgovernment and will without a doubt contribute to thestrengthening of the depart-ment’s economy,” Mr. Louridosaid about the road building.

With the help of these tworoads, the consolidation of thisregion will ultimately see devel-opment of two more importantprojects: the Integral Plan andthe Integral Education Plan.

Located in southwestern Colombia, the Department of Cauca Valley is one of the country’s most pristine places

Centelsa’s five state-of-the-art production plants have supplied cable to multiple energy and telecom companies internationally and provide invaluable community support

Since 1955, Centelsa has be-come a large part of the do-mestic technology industryand has maintained its lead-ership by being the first andmost prominent Colombianmanufacturer of cables (low,medium and high voltage cop-per and aluminum cable) forenergy and telecommunica-tion. During this period, thecompany has sealed technol-ogy agreements with severalworldwide firms, been recog-nized for its leadership in re-search, development andtechnical assistance, and hasexported to countries includ-ing the U.S., Brazil and the UK.This has put Centelsa in anideal position, making itselfone of the most dynamic com-panies in Latin America.

Centelsa is currently in-volved in multiple energy andtelecommunication projectsin Colombia and other coun-tries of South America. Someof these projects include gen-eration, transmission and dis-tribution of electrical energyin the oil and petrochemicalindustries; the development

of the industrial and miningindustries in construction;manufacturing industrial ap-pliances; building the auto-motive industry; and placingsatellite transmissions in thecentral telephone networks inurban and rural radio projects.Through these projects, Cen-telsa has become a transcon-tinental company.

While headquarters andmain manufacturing facilitiesfor Centelsa are located in Cali(Colombia), commercial op-erations are located in Cara-cas (Venezuela), Ecuador andPeru. In addition, there is anetwork of strategically lo-cated commercial offices. Thewide array of locations per-mits ample coverage of re-gional, national, andinternational markets, allow-ing for timely service and de-liveries.

Centelsa’s mission empha-sizes dedication and respon-sibility towards its community,region and country. The com-pany’s contribution to gener-ating jobs and progress in theColombian economy is

demonstrated through its sup-port of academic and recre-ational programs, as well as inthe developing of its sur-rounding communities, suchas its work in Valle del Caucato improve the quality of lifeof its people.

Alfonso Muñoz, presidentof Centelsa, expands on thismission: “As far as communi-ty and responsibility is con-cerned, we contribute to jobgeneration constantly. Wesupport people’s developmentthrough educational andrecreational programs in-tended for the continuous im-provement of their life quality.We actively participate in thesocial and business responsi-bility project, which was im-plemented in conjunctionwith other important compa-nies from the region.”

Mr. Muñoz goes on to ex-plain the importance of sup-porting these projects underway in Valle del Cauca in or-der to strengthen Colombia’seconomy as a whole. “Valle delCauca plays a significant rolein Colombia’s development.

It is the undeniable leader ofthe agricultural sector and ithas first-class product manu-facturing companies,” he says.“Moreover, its geographicallocation, with a path to thePacific Ocean, iss t r ate g i c a l l yv a l u a b l e .Therefore, it isa b s o l u t e l ynecessary toc o n t i n u eu p d a t i n gBuenaven-tura’s portand road in-frastructure,which will sig-nificantly benefitcompetitivenessin Valle del Cau-ca and Colom-bia. For some years we werebehind in infrastructure de-velopment, but fortunatelythis government seems tohave an important actionplan and the aforesaid infra-structure works might becompleted.”

Today, Centelsa uses fivestate-of-the-art production

plants in a total area of70,000m2 in Colombia. In ad-dition to the ample space, Cen-telsa seeks to inspire creativityand to encourage its employ-ees to work as a team and worktowards these same goals:working towards strengthen-ing and supporting the coun-try and region as a whole.

With this mindset, Centel-sa has the ability to guaranteequality products and providea stable foundation for thecompany to reach these goals.Mr. Muñoz explains, “The mixof a qualified team, modernmachinery structures, pro-ductive processes, sophisti-cated test equipment and over50 years of experience in thecable industry allowed us toparticipate in importantColombian and foreign pro-jects. These cables have beeninstalled at every company thatgenerates, transmits and dis-tributes energy, as well as manytelecommunication compa-nies and industries.”

Centelsa has been recog-nized on numerous occasionsfor its work and products, oneof the most prestigious ac-knowledgements being fromthe Autonomous Regional Cor-poration. The award acknowl-edged the company’s adoptionof clean production strategiesthat contributed to the envi-ronmental performance im-proving the quality of life for theresidents of Valle del Cauca.

FRANCISCO JOSE LOURIDO, Governor of Cauca Valley Department

From the Port of Buenaventura, on Colombia’s Pacific coast, exports of oil, coffee, sugar, timber, gold and platinum depart

‘WE CONTRIBUTETO JOB

GENERATIONCONSTANTLY. WE SUPPORT

PEOPLE’SDEVELOPMENT

THROUGHEDUCATIONAL

ANDRECREATIONAL

PROGRAMSINTENDED

FOR THECONTINUOUS

IMPROVEMENTOF THEIR LIFE

QUALITY’ALFONSO MUÑOZ,

President ofCentelsa

Cable expert Centelsa connects to the community

The opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 grew Buenaventura’s status as a port city,and today investors are contributing to consolidate the port’s relevance in global trade

Location can make or breakany economy. A country’s ac-cessibility plays a huge role inits growth, and that growthcan even be entirely depen-dent on this factor. This in it-self is the principal reasonBuenaventura has such an ad-vantage over other areas. Po-sitioned right on the Pacificcoast, the city’s booming econ-omy has turned it into a spe-cial economic zone.

The Buenaventura port isone of the primary coastalroutes of the commercialworld. With location as its ma-jor advantage, Buenaventurais fighting to strengthen theeconomy and to bring itselffront and center in establish-ing the primary commercialcorridors of the Pacific Ocean.In doing this, Buenaventurawill position itself as the mainplatform of foreign trade onColombia’s western coast.

Being in such an ideal lo-cation, many companies haverecognized the potential ofthis region and have made

commitments to help the areagain the momentum it is look-ing for in order to really takeoff economically.

“As I have said on repeatedoccasions, this opportunity[to develop Buenaventura’sport and] to open up the Pa-cific is going to change the di-rection of this region,” saysFrancisco Jose Lourido, Gov-ernor of the Department ofCauca Valley. “It deserves tohave the priority in invest-ments because there, in Bue-naventura, there’s a hugesocial debt that is owed.”

Cauca Valley plays a signif-icant role in developing thisport. The region offers verydiverse opportunities includ-ing its competitive perfor-mance in global markets. Theregion participates in the na-tional manufacturing indus-try, namely the production ofsugar, ethanol, paper and card-board, among others.

The development of sugaris one of the sectors that gen-erate the most jobs. For every

job created in the sugar pro-duction plant, 28.4 jobs arecreated and needed in othersectors of the economy.

The region’s participationin this array of markets en-ables the value of the econo-my to significantly rise. Withthese new developments, Bue-naventura is becoming a placein high demand, seeing muchmore traffic to import and ex-port goods. Buenaventura hasthe potential to become themain port on the Pacific Coastand could be the focal pointof trade routes that are con-nected with more than justColombia.

All of these factors com-bined, the Port of Buenaven-tura becomes the completecenter of not only coastalroutes on the Pacific, but al-so on land with roads that passfrom Buenaventura throughColombia, to its borderingneighbors. Buenaventuraserving as the gateway to thePacific Ocean seems to be justthe beginning for this region.

Colombia’s main port to the west




COLOMBIA

Industrial development has sky-rocketed in Cauca Valley. Thewide variety of activities andprojects it is involved in and thepowerful companies that arebased in the area have enabledmultiple industrial areas to con-solidate. In addition to 14 prod-ucts the region already develops– including sugarcane, specialcoffees, tourism and health –four more industries recentlyhave taken off. Bio-industry, en-vironmental services and tech-nologies, ICT (information andcommunication technology),BPO (business process out-sourcing), and the aerospaceindustry have become a part ofthe region’s development aswell. These industries in Cau-ca Valley have found an effec-tive way to reduce costs andprovide efficient productivity.

Cali has maintained its sta-bility and remained the part ofthe department that has themost influence, and in recentyears there have been no signsthat show this will soon change.In 2005, the commercial sec-tor took first place having 46%of the registered updated com-panies. Industry and real es-tate activities came in secondand third places respectively.With these percentages, andthe fact that this area is highlyinfluential, Cali has converteditself into the motor of devel-opment and a source for gen-erating jobs.

Industrial development inthe Cali region has had so muchsuccess because its leadingcompanies have gone throughextensive processes to mod-ernize their technology in or-der to be more competitive. Asa result of this, the potential ofthis region is surfacing thanksto the participation of numer-ous companies.

Maria Fernanda Meija, pres-ident of leading battery man-ufacturer MAC, entered thecompany in 1985. She has sincemade her main focus “to re-new energy and protect the

environment” with the batter-ies that are produced in her fac-tories. MAC batteries containlead-free acids, which is in ac-cordance with the characteris-tics to meet global standards.

MAC batteries make uparound 54% of the national mar-ket for batteries and provide91.5% of original battery equip-ment to the most prominentfactories in the country. It is theleading producer in Colombiaand the Andean Community.

More than 40% of vehiclesthat are made in the Andean Re-gion for the main Japanese,American, and Europeanbrands use MAC batteries.

Ms. Meija has been at thehead of the company during itsexpansion and development.Thanks to her team’s commit-ment to the job, the plan to con-struct the biggest battery plantof the country and region wasexecuted.

Due to MAC’s environmen-tally friendly products, in 1995they were awarded by Gener-al Motors for being the bestprovider of conventional bat-teries in the world. They havealso been recognized for beingthe only company in Colombia

with the technology to recycle100% of batteries of any brand.

Other important contribu-tors in the Cali region includeheavyweight companies such asCentelsa, Sidoc, Manuelita, Tec-noquimicas, Smurfit, Carvajal,Colombina, Belleza Express,Coomeva, Incauca.

Within all of these compa-nies, efforts are being made toimprove the Cauca region andto strengthen its economy andvarious sectors. Activities thecompanies focus on includetaking iron and steel scraps andrecycling them for the fabrica-tion of products, producing sug-ar at the highest level of quality,producing bio-ethanol gas,manufacturing cardboard andpaper, thus creating more jobopportunities and to improvequality of life for the region’sfamilies.

These powerful companies,and those still growing and ex-panding in the Cali region, de-velop their projects and reachthe goals that each has set. Thesupport in the Cauca Valley byall of these companies showstheir commitment to prove theeconomy to have more poten-tial now than ever before.

A medium-sized city in the Department of Cauca Valley, Buga is one of the oldest cities in Colombia, founded in 1555. It is home to the beautiful Basilica del Señor de los Milagros

The Cali Tower in Cali, Cauca Valley Department’s capital city

The department is home to blossoming high-tech industries

Industrial developmentin Cauca Valley

Social services and aware-ness is another aspect of theDepartment of Cauca Valleythat is proving successful.More than 100 social entre-preneurships have joinedforces to develop projects tostrengthen social housing andthe education system. Thedepartment’s objective as awhole is to regain the positionit had as a national model.

Cauca Valley’s Social Re-sponsibility Association(SRA) began to grow in 2002in the heart of the Andi In-dustrial Association. Fromthere, it took off with the helpof 23 companies, two ofwhich were Comfandi andComfenalco Valley.

The committee that es-tablished this associationidentified its chief objectiveas achieving a more fair andequitable society, startingwith the integration of socialresponsibility at the man-agement end of companies.

Since this association wasstarted, both Comfandi andComfenalco Valley haveshown their social commit-ment to the department: firstwith the Regional System ofSocial Responsibility (RSSR),and second with the Valley’sSchool of Responsibility.These two projects haveworked to shorten and even-tually remove gaps in all so-cial aspects: education, livingsituations, health, and recre-ation.

Armando Garrido, ad-ministrative director of theComfandi CompensationBank, explains the directionand objectives of his program,the RSSR. “We have deter-mined the fundamental ne-cessity to work towardssustaining economic, social,and environmental aspects.This is included in our strate-gies and implicated in thetransformation of our actionsthat add value to our publicinterest. The SRA has per-mitted us to focus on an in-tegrated policy in theprograms, actions, and ini-tiatives that we have fulfilledwith our services.”

According to statistics taken

in November of 2009, theRSSR invested total of $121.6million a year in environ-mental programs. Annually,around $133 million isplanned to go towards socialbenefits for workers.

“Cauca Valley’s commit-ment to develop this regionis being taken very seriouslyand the active involvementin the RSSR is evident in itsconstant participation in de-veloping enterprises in theregion,” Mr. Garrido says.

Through Comfandi’s par-ticipation in the SRA by wayof its own personal program,the RSSR, Mr. Garrido’s maingoal is “to be recognized asa responsible, political cor-poration that has joinedforces with and is defined bythe main guidelines of SRA,and to be accepted on an in-ternational field, like the UNGlobal Pact that involves hu-man labor rights and meth-ods to combat corruption.”

Felice Grimoldi, adminis-trative director of Com-fenalco Valley, similar toComfandi, since 2010 has invested $222.6 million inhousing projects, recreation,and education among others.

Fundamentally, the SRAwants to reach out to the en-tire community through theSchool of Social Responsi-bility, inviting people tomake a bigger effort to ad-vance true developmentsand to assure the sustain-ability of the companies ofthe region.

“Cauca Valley has a lot ofinteresting potential – notonly on a national level but onan international one as well.Advantages like its geo-graphic location, a port righton the Pacific Ocean, its in-frastructure, roads, and thepeople’s work ethic are whatmake it very competitive,”says Mr. Grimoldi.

The private and public sectors have joined in environmental and social projects

Cauca Valley has several initiatives underway to improve quality of life for its residents

A socially responsibledepartment

COMFANDI ANDCOMFENALCOVALLEY ARE TWOCOMPANIES THATARE INVESTINGHEAVILY IN CAUCAVALLEY’S SOCIALRESPONSIBILITYASSOCIATION,WHOSE CHIEFGOAL IS TOACHIEVE A MORE FAIR ANDEQUITABLE SOCIETY

THE REGIONALSYSTEM OF SOCIALRESPONSIBILITYAND THE SCHOOLOF SOCIALRESPONSIBILITY ARE WORKING TO REMOVE GAPSIN EDUCATION,HEALTH, ANDQUALITY OF LIFE






COLOMBIA

Taking education higherThere is a general consensusthat research and innovation atuniversity level will both im-prove the conditions both inColombia, through educatedcitizens working together, andin the world, with businessesbeing able to compete on a glob-al scale.

Last year during his presi-dential political campaign, Pres-ident Juan Manuel Santostoured the country calling in-novation one of the ‘locomo-tives’ that mark the nation’sfuture.

Explaining that academic uni-versity education is the base ofeconomic development for hiscountry, the President high-lighted his goals which includeclosing the gap in the quality of

education between urban andrural areas; increasing the num-ber of spaces for new students;assuring resources for disabledpeople and students of ethnicminorities; and assisting low-income families who want tosend their children to college.

Paralleling President Santos’objectives, Colombian Minis-ter of Education Maria Fernan-da Campo wants to reformeducation policy to ensure con-tinued financial stability in thesector. She has recently pro-posed reform that would allowan additional 2.4 billion pesos($1.3 million), half originatingfrom public funds and the oth-er half coming from the privatesector. However, she affirmedthat Colombian universities

would maintain autonomy overtheir research, and that invest-ments from corporations wouldnot mean the government willprivatize its universities.

These funds, according toMs. Campo, would be used toemphasize regionalization,continued improvement ofquality, preparing and educat-ing professors and finally, in-vestigation. She hopes thatprivate funding will specifical-ly go toward the developmentof research projects in order tomake Colombia even morecompetitive on an economicinternational level.

“Colombia is making a greateffort in postgraduate programsbecause we believe that thecountry’s competitiveness de-

pends heavily on these educa-tional programs,” says MoisesWasserman, president at theNational University of Colom-bia, a public university withcampuses in some of the majorcities across the country, in-cluding Colombia’s capital Bo-gota and its second-largest city,Medellin.

Medellin is also the home ofthe University of Antioquia re-search facility, which is one ofthe most successful and selec-tive institutions in Colombia. Itleads in investigations in fieldsranging from medicine to agri-culture to music. Medellin hasbeen awarded the most edu-cated city by the Quality Edu-cation Network.

“The research undertaken by

universities in conjunction withthe production sectors of thecountry is very important forcompetitiveness and the de-velopment of the country,” saysthe president of the Universityof Antioquia, Alberto UribeCorrea.

His university’s research hasled to breakthroughs that in-clude an anti-venom serum forthe deadly tropical diseases ofdengue fever and malaria, aswell as the discovery of a plantwith immunosuppressive prop-erties that can be used in organtransplants. This has subse-quently led to patents on an in-ternational level including theUnited States and Spain.

These Colombian researchinstitutions have already made

large strides in the medical field,volcanology and seismology,and in anthropology, facilitatedby the large pre-Colombianarcheological sites. However,the universities around thecountry are interdisciplinary,some focusing on research andothers emphasizing the preser-vation of arts and culture.

Juan Luis Mejia Arango, pres-ident at the University of EAFIT,a private college also locatedin Medellin, insists on interdis-ciplinary study for continueddevelopment of Colombian students: “At EAFIT we are veryinterested in the humanistic ed-ucation of our students. Topicssuch as music, dance and paint-ing are fundamental for the ed-ucation for human beings.”

A top priority for both the private and public sector in Colombia is education, and the Santos administration has targeted rural areas, scholarships and higher education as key areas

One of the biggest hopes forCarlos Ignacio Granada is thathis medical team’s business suc-cess story will be an example forfurther innovation not only inColombia, but also throughoutLatin America. The Colombianentrepreneur is the generalmanager and member of thefounding team who establishedCorbic, a young company fo-cused on the development of aunique technology develop-ment platform in cardioneu-rovascular healthcare.

Corbic is the quintessentialexample of detecting a need forinnovation in the market andseizing the opportunity throughgood ideas and persistence. Itwas founded in 2005 by thegroup of five cardiolo-gists and a businessmanager who realizedthat patients were some-times unable to obtainaccess to innovative life-saving technologies totreat their respectiveheart conditions. By cre-ating a state-of-the-artmedical center andaligning inventors, med-ical device developersand scientists, Corbichas created a uniqueplatform to foster inno-vation.

“Corbic’s creation wasbased on two essential reasons.The first one was born fromthe needs of the Colombianpopulation,” says Mr. Granada,who explains that this prompt-ed the group to find alterna-tives to facilitate access totechnology. “The second reasonhad to do with the interest todevelop a clear innovation cul-ture in a country where thenumber of patents registeredby year is unsatisfactory.”

Corbic has used the strategyof goodwill and results toachieve credibility and accep-tance in the international busi-ness world at a time whenColombia may not be instinc-tively thought of as a place forthe commerce of knowledge.

“We hope that this strategywill help local innovators in thefuture to take advantage of itsbenefits, and to be able to de-velop their own ideas,” says Mr.Granada. “We believe the deficitin the region is not caused bylack of ideas, but rather by a

lack of mechanisms to facilitatethe successful execution of suchideas.”

Corbic specializes in car-dioneurovascular diseases andhas received more than 70,000patients, including people whowould not have had access tohealth care. This is particular-ly significant because car-dioneurovascular disease is the leading cause of death inColombia.

Patients, however, are onlyone aspect of Corbic’s success:“From the moment the med-ical center opened its doors,we have focused on research bytaking advantage of the con-nections established with aca-demic centers in the U.S.,”

affirms Mr. Granada, addingwith pride that his company’sfindings have been publishedin prominent publications suchas the Wall Street Journal andthe Journal of the AmericanCollege of Cardiology.

Corbic has an enduring part-nership with General ElectricHealthcare, who supplies theirtechnology, including imag-ing, monitoring systems andanesthesia-related devices. Interms of research and educa-tion, the pioneering companyhas already forged a strong re-lationship with various Amer-ican research centers, includingthe Jack H. Skirball Center forCardiovascular Research (SCCR) which forms part ofthe Cardiovascular ResearchFoundation in New York.

In just six years, Corbic hasnot wavered from its princi-ples and has stuck to its goals,being rewarded with businesssuccess and satisfied patients allover the world.

Corbic sparkstechnological innovationin cardioneurovasculardevelopmentSix years ago the founders of Corbic seized theopportunity to advance innovation incardioneurovascular healthcare

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Corbic was established six years ago as aninnovative, state-of-the-art medical center

In 1968, scientist Dr. SpencerSilver invented a peculiar ad-hesive that would softly stickto different surfaces withoutdoing damage, but did not atfirst see a practical use for hisnew invention. One day, his fel-low choir member, who alwayshad difficulty turning the pagesof his choir books because thelittle markers often fell out, re-membered his friend’s inven-tion. The two put the adhesiveon to the little pieces of paper.And the result: the Post-it note.

Dr. Silver was a scientist at3M at the time and the Post-itbecame one of the premiereproducts in the successful com-pany’s line, which was famedalready for its innovations inScotch Tape and Scotchgard.

For more than 100 years, theMinnesota Mining and Manu-facturing Company – betterknown as 3M – has invented,produced and sold their morethan 55,000 products in morethan 200 countries.

In Bogota, 3M Colombia fol-lows the inspiration and inno-vation of its parent company.Its facilities combine a show-room and training and testingareas, where products are con-tinually researched and devel-oped.

This facility is a leading ex-ample of the investigation andinnovation present in Colombiatoday. Ana Maria Noreña, pres-ident of 3M in Bogota, pointedto diversification and innova-tion as the motors for constantgrowth, especially in emergingmarkets: “These are the coun-tries that are driving the growth

in the world. Asia is growingjust as fast as Latin America,which is generating great op-portunities.”

Other companies follow suitand contribute to this growthand innovation, such as Corbic,a successful healthcare compa-ny and research facility focusedon the cardioneurovascular system. Founded in 2005, Cor-bic has obtained internationalrecognition in large part be-cause of its innovations throughresearch in the medical field.

One of Corbic’s founders,Carlos Ignacio Granada, saysthat Colombia is experiencinga historical moment where it isinvesting in innovation and ismaking improvements to moveout into the global market as animportant player.

“Latin America is graduallyemerging as an enterprising andinnovative region,” he says. “Rightnow, when Colombian univer-sities focus on innovation andthe development of new ideas,it is very important to designprocesses for intellectual pro-tection and marketing.”

Jose Alberto Garay, presidentof Acoplasticos, says, “It is im-perative that the country doesnot stop innovating. To do this,we must make major educationprojects and large financing ef-forts. In Acoplasticos, we un-derstood that long ago, and theresult of our work on innovationis the Plastics Institute inMedellin that we have.”

Innovations at Colombianuniversities permeate fields frombiology and medicine to psy-chology and anthropology. Dis-

coveries by researchers at theUniversity of Antioquia have ledto anti-venom serums againsttropical diseases such as dengueand malaria, both of which canbe fatal. Also in the medical field,Colombian researchers found aplant with immunosuppressiveproperties that can be used in or-gan transplants, a discovery thatreceived a patent in the U.S.

“Today we have the oppor-tunity to do scientific exchangein biological methods of con-trol about diseases, like tuber-culosis, that come back andattack the U.S. population,” saysDiego Miguel Sierra Botero,general director of the Corpo-ration for Biological Investiga-tion (CIB).

Meanwhile in agriculture, dis-coveries made by a team ofColombian university re-searchers include a substanceto combat a disease that attacksthe banana crop in Colombia,

Innovation finds a welcoming home in ColombiaFrom biology and medicine to anthropology to technology, companies enjoy a conducive environment for innovation

Multimillion-dollar companies,world-famous singers and im-portant research at renowneduniversities are a small sample ofthe fruits of the talent found inColombia.

But when searching for theextra essence that this SouthAmerican country has, giving ita propensity for a unique and ca-pable population, the one wordthat can be used to describe it ispassion. Like their slogan says:“Colombia is Passion”.

This can be seen not only inColombians everyday zeal forlife, but also in their innate tal-ent to push forward and improvetheir own lives and the lives oftheir fellow citizens.

“Colombia is a born entre-preneur. Here we say it has a greatcapacity for ‘moonlighting’, i.e.to find a way to survive, to suc-ceed,” explains President JuanManuel Santos Calderon, whoputs great importance on theuniversity system to foment theminds of the citizens. “We havean innate capacity. Foreign in-vestors coming into the countryare impressed with our ability.”

The country attracts investorsfrom world-famous companiessuch as 3M and Hyundai, as wellas boasting highly successful na-tional entities. On this year’s listof Most Global Companies inLatin America, Colombia’s mainairline conglomerate, Avainca-Taca, holds the number 15 po-sition, rising from last year, andthe chocolate company Nutre-sa comes in at 18.

But this talent is not just ap-parent in business; art and cul-ture also thrive. Nobel prizewinner Gabriel Garcia Marquez,famous for his novel One Hun-dered Years of Solitude, was bornin the small northern town ofAracataca. Famed musicianJuanes and reggaeton artist JBalvin, who recently won fourawards at the Nuestra Tierra Mu-sic Awards, are both fromMedellin, the second largest city.

While some generalize aboutColombia as a whole, the presi-dent of Hyundai Colombia, Car-los Mattos, breaks the countryinto its various regions, high-lighting each with unique char-acteristics. He says whereasAntioquia is hard working andenterprising, paralleled by San-tander’s strong personalities andentrepreneurial spirit, theCaribbean region is full of hap-py people, full of joy and cele-

bration. He describes the city ofCali as a “live city”, where peopleenjoy salsa.

“And in Bogota we find thefive regions together but we al-so find the typical person fromBogota, which we call ‘cachaco’,which is quite sophisticated,” ex-plains Mr. Mattos, adding it isthe differences people can dis-cover in each corner of the coun-try that makes it so successful,unique and thriving.

According to the President, Colombia is a ‘born entrepreneur’ but the nation also excels in the arts

The essence of Colombian talent

From R&D, education and business to art, culture and music, Colombian talent impresses on a global scale

INNOVATION ANDRESEARCH INCOLOMBIA HAS APERSISTENT HISTORY.SMALL START-UPCOMPANIES,UNIVERSITIES AND BIG ENTERPRISES ALIKE ARE ALLLEADING THECOUNTRY IN THECHARGE FORPROGRESS

a major export in the country’seconomic market.

Because of its geographic po-sition in the northwest of SouthAmerica, pre-Colombian ar-chaeological sites shed light onindigenous cultures before Eu-ropean settlement. This loca-tion also lends itself to placeColombia as some of the lead-ing researchers on volcanologyand seismology.

Innovation and research inColombia has a persistent his-tory. Small start-up companies,universities and big enterprisesalike are all leading the countryin the charge for progress.“Colombian human talent ispassionate and is easy to workwith because they are thirsty forknowledge, to innovate and cre-ate, and that makes it very spe-cial,” says Ms. Noreña.



COLOMBIA


In brief

Agreementwith theGerman BIBBSENA is constantlyworking to improve itssystems and methods,and earlier this year dur-ing a visit to Germanyby President JuanManuel Santos, SENADirector Father CamiloBernal signed an agree-ment with its Germancounterpart, the FederalInstitute for VocationalEducation and Training,or BIBB. The agreement is in-tended to promote jointactivities and informa-tion exchanges in thearea of vocational edu-cation and training.Some of the areas cov-ered include institution-al modernization,qualification require-ments, training qualifi-cations and thedevelopment of nationaltesting standards.

SENA targetssocial andeconomicinclusion Colombia is a very di-verse country and theSantos administrationseeks prosperity for allthrough more jobs, a re-duction in poverty andgreater security. The country also has awide range of socio-economic levels, andthe government is de-termined to provideeconomic, social andeducational inclusionfor all Colombians. SENA is an importantpart of the effort to pro-mote inclusion. The in-stitution provides freetraining and educationto all Colombians whoneed it, preparing themfor a productive work-ing life.

The Nano-ProfessorNanoscienceEducation andTrainingProgram Promising new fields ofeconomic activity are al-ways of interest toSENA. Nanotechnologyis an area that has thepotential to be a sourceof innovation, jobs andprofit for decades tocome. Last year SENA in-vested in a U.S.-developedsystem to train highschool and universitystudents for careers innanotechnology. The system, called theNanoProfessorNanoscience Educationand Training Program,gives students thechance to learn aboutthe uses of the develop-ing technology and atthe same time providesthem with hands-on ex-perience with the sameup-to-date equipmentused by researchers inthe area. Nanotechnology is arapidly growing fieldand it will need a con-stantly growing force oftrained and experiencedworkers and researchers.This is an area whereSENA hopes to get in onthe ground floor andprovide some of the ex-pertise needed in the ar-eas of biotech,electronics, energy andmedicine, among others.

Every economy needs an ed-ucated workforce to growand advance. Most coun-tries’ education systems areset up to help provide theworkforce needed by busi-nesses, the government andother employers, but oftenmore training is needed be-fore graduates can move onto a fruitful life of employ-ment.

In Colombia, the govern-ment established the Na-tional Training Service, orSENA in its Spanish initials,to help give Colombians theskills and experience theyneed to get and keep a job,and to provide themselvesand their families with theincome they need to im-prove the quality of theirlives.

SENA is an institution thatfunctions through the co-operation of the govern-ment, companies (such asSpain’s Telefonica) andworkers. It was set up 54years ago, and since June 21,1957, millions of Colom-bians have benefited fromits vocational training inclasses and in the workplace,from its job placement ser-vice and the many otherways that the institutionhelps workers find jobs.

SENA’s main goal is to pro-vide a high-quality educa-tion to workers. Anotherimportant objective, though,is to promote economicgrowth through technicalsupport to companies andby backing innovative pro-jects, providing technolog-ical ser vices to theproductive sector and help-ing small businesses.

At its 116 training centersthroughout Colombia ,

SENA offers long and shortcourses developed aroundthe needs of different sec-tors of the economy, andaround the social needs ofthe areas around the cen-ters. When finished, the stu-dents have gained theknowledge and skills theyneed for the job, and theability to learn and adapt tochanging requirements inthe sector.

SENA has also carried outimportant work in settingstandards and norms for jobtraining that permit work-ers to be evaluated, trained

and certified based on thesame requirements in all ofColombia, upholding thelevel of excellence for work-ers throughout the entirecountry.

SENA was created to giveall Colombians a chance togain work skills , to makethemselves more employ-able and to help themselvesand the country to grow eco-nomically. After 54 years ofnon-stop work, the institu-tion continues to providegovernment and businesseswith the high-quality em-ployees they need.

Training workers for nearlyevery need in the economySENA works to increasethe competitiveness of theeconomy and to promotesocial inclusion of even thecountry’s most vulnerablepopulations

Father Camilo Bernal, general director of SENA, and Germany’s BIBB president Manfred Kremer sign an agreement in April this year

SENA’s job is to make sureColombians get the trainingthey need to succeed in thecountry’s labor market.

Coffee is one of Colom-bia’s biggest exports, andSENA has an extensive pro-gram in place to make surethe country has the skilledworkers it needs to produce,process and export the vitalagricultural commodity.Classes include teachinghow to choose the bestseeds, and new and innova-tive ways to market thebeans.

The coffee program wasset up with the input of theNational Federation of Cof-fee Growers, a typical strat-egy of SENA. The institutionalso recently signed anagreement with GeneralMotors, to train employeesto work on the carmaker’sautomated production linesat the GM Colmotores plantin Bogota.

Providing Colombianswith training for the use ofnew technologies is a grow-ing part of SENA’s mission.In 2006 the institution start-ed Tecnoparque, a systemthat entrepreneurs and stu-dents can use to get theequipment, tools and tech-nological knowledge they

need to judge if their busi-ness ideas will work.

Tecnoparque helps peo-ple with an idea formulate aclear plan to create a prod-uct unit, which they can thenput into practice with thehelp of a business incubator.The Tecnoparque systemgives them access to mar-keting, management and fi-nancial advisers, and helpsput them in touch with po-tential clients.

SENA has many differentprograms to help train andeducate Colombians. It al-so provides training and fa-cilities to instructors, to helpthem improve their teach-ing skills, and to give theirstudents the best educationpossible. As part of its com-mitment to excellence, busi-nesses also have access toSENA resources, to helpthem be as efficient and pro-ductive as possible.

SENA focuses onpreparing Colombiansto work in the country’smost important existingeconomic sectors, whileat the same timekeeping an eye on thetechnologies and needsof the future

Sector specifictrainingprograms

When a new leader comes in torun an organization, one of thefirst orders of business is fre-quently to study the place, as-certain its strengths andweaknesses and develop a strate-gic plan based on the findings ofthe study and the goals of the in-stitution.

Father Camilo Bernal wassworn in as director of the Na-tional Training Service, or SENA,in January, and since then he hasset in motion his plan, called Vi-sion 2020, to decide how the in-stitution will move forward, itsmain goals and strategies, its im-age in the country and in whichprojects it will participate.

Father Bernal isuniquely qualified tohead the organization.

Social inclusion, trainingand physical, informationand human resourcesinfrastructure are thebases of SENA’s strategicplans and foci for the nextfour years

Moving SENA forwardthrough Vision 2020

He has a strong background ineducation, having been a rectorat the Minuto de Dios Universi-ty before moving to SENA. Hehelped start up Community De-velopment Centers in the townsof Cartagena and el Carmen delBolivar, and has a university de-gree in computer and systemsengineering.

Father Bernal and the headsof different units of SENA havecarried out a series of meetingsto exchange ideas and sugges-

tions for the strategicplan. The institution’semployees have beenencouraged to con-

tribute to the plan, to make sureSENA benefits from the fullbreadth of experience of its staff.

“I want us to build this strate-gic plan with the participation ofmany people here at SENA,” Fa-ther Bernal says. “From the dif-ferent sections, from apprenticesto instructors, unions and busi-nesses, we should all think aboutthe SENA that we want.”

SENA will be carrying out amassive consultation, at the na-tional level, on the Internet. Theinstitution expects to includetens of thousands of Colombiansin various exercises to clarify, de-fine and validate its vision andstrategic plan. Nearly 1,000 in-vitees will participate in nation-wide focus groups, more than10,000 will participate in leadingpolls, and all Colombians will beinvited to participate in a broadvariety of polls on the Internet.

By the end of the process, workgroups will have personally vis-ited SENA offices in 10 or moreof Colombia’s regions, and willhave held videoconferences withat least another 18 regions. Thegoal is to get input from as manyperspectives as possible.

After all of the meetings, thegoal is to develop and defineSENA’s strategic lines, the im-pact they hope to have, and howto support and carry out thatmission to make the institution

as efficient and effec-tive as possible for all

Colombians.

SENA INVESTS IN THE SOCIAL ANDTECHNICALDEVELOPMENT OF COLOMBIANWORKERS

THE INSTITUTION WILL OPEN ATECHNOPARK, WHEREPEOPLE WILL BE ABLETO PUT TOGETHERTHEIR BUSINESS IDEAS

SERVICIO NACIONAL DE APRENDIZAJE SENA A World-Class Entity




COLOMBIA

Latin America’s top healthcare system When it comes to health sys-tems, Colombia is a world leader,even surpassing more devel-oped countries like the U.S.,Switzerland, Canada, and Ger-many, according to the WHO’sWorld Health Report.

The country has made sig-nificant progress in terms ofhealthcare coverage, reachingapproximately 42 millionColombians to date. “There areimportant strengths in Colom-bia in the health sector, not justin the field of aesthetics, but al-so in the area of highly complexsystems,” says Dr. Sergio Rada,director of Rada Clinic. “Thequality of our physicians andthe warmth of the team withwhom they work have increasedinternational interest to come tohave surgery in Colombia.”

Colombia is not only knownfor its tradition of cosmeticsurgery, but it also has the besthealthcare system in Latin Amer-ica, offering a range of complexhealth services. Many industryleaders believe that what hashelped the current Colombiansystem become so successful isthe constitutional nature ofhealthcare in Colombia.

CafeSalud Prepaid Medicinecontributes to the welfare ofColombian families through abroad range of health services.Its services and opportunitiessupplement basic social securi-ty schemes in the country andhave helped make the nationalsystem more successful. “InColombia, the ‘pocket money’that citizens spend outside thehealth system is 7%, unlike oth-er countries in the region thatare close to 50%,” says Jairo

Enrique Arboleda, president of Cafesalud. “This positionsColombia as the most efficienton the continent in this regard.”

Despite the current success ofthe country’s healthcare, its goalis to further improve the quali-ty and equity of access, while as-piring to provide universalcoverage in the future.

Dr. Julio Cesar Castellanos,general director of Hospital Uni-versitario San Ignacio, aims toprovide the freedom of choice formedical clients and to set upquality assurance indicators in allhospitals. “The first key elementin quality is human attention, tolisten to the patient,” Mr. Castel-lanos says. “For this, all systemshave been established to hearthe user, meet the user, receivecomplaints, suggestions, etc.”

To improve patient manage-ment in terms of diagnosis, Mr.Castellanos supports the gen-eration of a network serviceprovider or other entity to im-prove quality and efficiency ofhealth services. He aims to takeon the challenge of improvingservice networks so that eachentity serves in its strengths inthe fastest way possible to avoidadministrative delays for thepatient.

The Hospital UniversitarioSan Ignacio has an advantage inwhich it is a non-profit entityand receives numerous dona-tions. The hospital administra-tion has decided to invest alldonations into technological de-velopment, making service faster,more efficient, and more bene-ficial for the patient.

Even though Latin Americais becoming an emerging inter-est for developed countries likethe United States, Norway, orAustria, Mr. Castellanos warnsthat developing countries mustbe very careful about investingin technology to avoid becom-ing an exporter of net dollars.“One sees a growing interest inLatin America, and though thisis currently the era of Asia, LatinAmerica must be prepared tobecome the next emerging econ-omy,” says Mr. Castellanos.“Therefore the responsibility ofleaders in this country is to pre-pare for the change.”

It is expected that an averageof six to seven million Americanswill leave the country in 2011 formedical treatment and about 23million by 2017. Colombia is lo-

cated strategically close to theU.S. and many major LatinAmerican capitals, as it is onlya three hour flight from Miami,and under six hours from NewYork, Houston, Washington, SaoPaulo, Mexico and Buenos Aires.This allows for many foreignersto take advantage of high qual-ity treatment close to home;however there is yet much toimprove in the area of export-ing health services, as the econ-omy rankings still do not indicatethat Colombia is a first choicedestination.

“We have problems commu-nicating with the world, but withPresident Santos I think we willimprove more,” Mr. Castellanossays.

Nonetheless, he proposes im-proved communication to bet-

ter gauge the patients’ needs inthe future. In the coming year,the hospital will launch a tele-conference system throughbroadband to build an open di-alogue which allows the hospi-tal staff to learn more aboutprospective patients.

To further aid in communi-cation, Colombian hospitals areworking to improve qualitiesbeyond medical knowledge inorder to treat foreign patients.Language skills and personal-ized treatment are areas doctorsare specially trained in. “Wehave a group called SIPE [In-ternational Services and SpecialPlans] that is fully bilingual,” Mr.Castellanos says.

In Colombia hospitals likeHospital Universitario SanIgnacio take a patient-based ap-proach and prioritize humancare above all. “In general, wehave better quality and warmththan in many other countriesdue to the characteristics ofColombia, as we are friendly,warm, close to people, and af-fectionate,” claims the hospi-tal’s general director. InColombia, one is sure to findquality patient care that isunique to other countries, withstandards that have measuredup to the quality of more de-veloped nations. “Come toColombia to be healthy,” he says.“Be surprised, as we saw in allthe patients we treated. Peopleare pleasantly surprised.”

Colombia’s excellent healthcare system has been applauded by the World Health Organization and its affordable prices are luring in patients from abroad

“Hospital San Vincente dePaul was founded by gen-erosity and generosity itselfhas been maintaining the hos-pital,” says Julio Toro, gener-al director of Fundacion SanVincente de Paul.

Hospital San Vincente dePaul was founded 100 yearsago by a man who belongedto one of the most renownedfamilies from Medellin. Hesaid to himself when his wifefell ill, “If I, having money, suf-fer with my wife being sick,what is it like for poor peo-ple?” He went on to found thebiggest hospital in Antioquiawhich has been able to assistall of Antioquia’s children re-gardless of social class. “Whenhe died, he left a legacy in theinstitution,” Mr. Toro says.

Since its founding, Hospi-tal San Vincente de Paul hasfunctioned as a non-profit pri-vate institution, generatingbenefits for the communityand serving people with lim-ited resources. It operates in aduty-free zone so costs are re-duced and services becomecheaper. The community def-initely appreciates the institu-tion, as it has an open-doorpolicy and does not excludeanyone from its services.

The hospital makes sure thatall their healthcare profes-sionals are educated, training

much of their staff from theUniversity of Antioquia. “Here,they find a way to carry outtheir internships with highquality and a generous recep-tion,” Mr. Toro says. “As a re-sult, we are deeply related toColombian people’s feelings.”

Mr. Toro believes that thehospital will be used long in-to the future due to its con-nection to the community andfoundation of generosity thathas kept it alive for many years.He not only foresees the hos-

pital’s long-term success, buthe also welcomes future ex-pansion and care for foreign-ers as they build a new clinicat Rio Negro.

“We cannot expand in thisplace and therefore we boughtsome land next to the airportto build specialized centers inareas we know, such as trans-plants, cardiovascular matters,emergency service and ap-pointments,” he says.

The Hospital San Vincentede Paul holds patient safety inthe highest esteem, as it isbacked by the best medical ex-pertise and comparable to other high quality medical in-stitutions. “We have efficien-cy, efficacy indicators, as wellas hospital mortality indica-tors comparable to the besthospitals worldwide,” Mr. Torosays. “We assure healthcarerisks are avoided, namely, in-tra-hospital infection, whichour hospital was the first tomanage. We assure patientsafety.”

The hospital has made greatdevelopmental contributionsto the community and has be-come a long-standing qualityhospital serving the region. “IfI had to go through the emer-gency room, I would ask to besent to this hospital,” Mr. Torosays. “There is no greater guar-antee than that.”

The charitable hospitalThe San Vicente de Paul Hospital has a century-long history of attending to thehealthcare needs of those in need, as well as to those of paying patients

Clinica La Font is a renownedinstitution at both the nationaland international level, hav-ing earned many prestigiousawards for quality of serviceand care in science-art cos-metic surgery. The clinic hasbeen awarded ISO qualitycertification, becoming theonly plastic surgery organi-zation in the country with thisrecognition.

Dr. Fernando Pedroza andDr. Lina Valero, both direc-tors of Clinica La Font, havecreated many surgical tech-niques that set La Font apartfrom other clinics. “There aresurgeons who use well knownprocedures but are not ableto give the body a natural look,and ruin it because they donot have the sense of art thatlabels our job,” Mr. Pedrozasays. “It has to do with shap-ing the human appearance,and avoiding removal of nec-essary tissues. In our medicalcenter, we just mold the ex-isting tissues.”

In addition to being aclinic, Clinica La Font is al-so a university. Mrs.Valero was actually thepioneer who broughtspecialization studiesto Colombia. “Therewas nothing similarin Colombia orLatin America.

Therefore, I thought we had tofound an academy here be-cause not everybody has thechance to go and study in theU.S.,” she says. “So I decided tocreate this specialization pro-gram.” The program was de-signed at CES, which led theuniversity to place first in theevaluation for the best medi-cine faculty in Colombia.

Clinica La Font has bene-fited from medical knowl-edge from abroad,receiving special-ists from aroundthe world, andnow the med-ical complex iscatered to

give the highest care andcomfort to both national andforeign patients. Patientshave the possibility to stayin a hotel with all the fea-tures of a spa, giving all kindsof medical treatments to pre-vent prolonged post-surgeryinflammation, giving the pa-tient the best results.

“Customers are our bestfriends; that is the way we treatthem,” says Dr. Valero. “Wespoil them, we are aware oftheir needs. We have designedhospitalization and nursingcare to ensure patients re-ceive special and comfort-able treatment.”

Cosmetic medicine pioneersClinica La Font has grown from a clinic to a medical complex devoted to beautyand health, and the country’s only ISO-certified cosmetic surgery organization

IT IS ESTIMATED THATAN AVERAGE OF SIXTO SEVEN MILLIONAMERICANS WILLTRAVEL ABROAD IN2011 FOR MEDICALTREATMENT, ANUMBER THAT COULDRISE TO ABOUT 23MILLION BY 2017

HOSPITALS SUCH AS HOSPITALUNIVERSITARIO SANIGNACIO TAKE APATIENT-BASEDAPPROACH ANDPRIORITIZE HUMANCARE ABOVE ALL,INFUSING THEIRSERVICE WITH THECOLOMBIAN PEOPLE’SCHARACTERISTICWARMTH

JULIO TORO, General Director ofFundacion San Vincente de Paul

DR. FERNANDO PEDROZAand DR. LINA

VALERO, Directors of

Clinica LaFont

Of Latin America’s 35 highest ranked hospitals, eight are located in Colombia

PR

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COLOMBIA


‘100% of Renault and GM vehicles inColombia use MAC products’

The benefits of‘Social BusinessResponsibility’

Maria Fernanda Meija, presi-dent of MAC, has plans tobuild the biggest modern bat-tery plant in the country andregion, equipped with top-of-the-line technology, for theproduction and ability to re-cycle batteries without dam-aging the environment. Here,she shares more informationabout MAC and its develop-ments and achievements.

IInn 11995577,, yyoouurr ffaatthheerr bboouugghhtthhiiss bboossss’’ss wwoorrkksshhoopp aannddttuurrnneedd iitt iinnttoo aa bbaatttteerryy mmaann--uuffaaccttuurriinngg wwoorrkksshhoopp.. AAfftteerr--wwaarrddss,, hhee oobbttaaiinneedd aa ppoossiittiioonniinn tthhee rreeggiioonn aanndd ccrreeaatteedd ssiigg--nniiffiiccaanntt lliiaaiissoonnss wwoorrllddwwiiddee..WWhhaatt hhaavvee bbeeeenn MMAACC’’ss bbaassiiccaanndd uunniiqquuee ffeeaattuurreess tthhrroouugghh--oouutt iittss ccaarreeeerr??

When my father returnedto Cali, Colombia, he got a jobin the same business he hadlearned in Argentina, that is, inan electrical service workshopcalled Battery Distributor. Myfather obtained great recogni-tion because he modified ve-hicles to fix them and offeredoutstanding customer service.

He worked there from 1955to 1957 until the owner sug-gested that he buy the busi-ness for 4,000 Colombianpesos ($2.27), paid in install-ments. The company later be-came MAC, a battery andcar-part trading company inthe vehicle market.

However, it was not onlyuntil the 70s that the compa-ny had an industrial-like fa-cility. A tire manufacturingcompany, Icollantas, decidedto close the battery productionline and my father bought it.During the early 70s he be-came a supplier of the vehicle-assembly industry. This wasa decisive role because the ve-hicle industry defines thetechnological line for car-partcomplements.

Vehicle-assembly compa-nies were so demanding inquality processes that we hadto develop improvementprocesses, which already havebeen implemented. We thinkthat although economic prof-it is not high in this trade re-

lation, there is compensationthrough the learning experi-ences we have obtained fromthem.

Our relationships with as-sembly companies still remainstrong today; 100% of Renaultand General Motors’ vehiclesassembled in Colombia useour brands. Some of the pro-duction in Ecuador andVenezuela has MAC products,as well.

BBootthh iinntteerrnnaattiioonnaalliizzaattiioonn aannddeennttrraannccee iinn nneeww mmaarrkkeettss ssuucchhaass UUrruugguuaayy,, BBoolliivviiaa aanndd tthheeUU..SS.. aarree vviittaall.. WWhhyy ddiidd MMAACCeenntteerr tthheessee mmaarrkkeettss?? HHooww iimm--ppoorrttaanntt iiss tthhee UU..SS.. mmaarrkkeett ffoorrtthhee ccoommppaannyy nnoowwaaddaayyss??

The internationalizationprocesses started in 1992. Itfirst began with raw materialsbecause the product was notready to enter the internationalmarket yet.

Our natural market is theAndean Pacific, which cov-ers an area from Panama toChile and every country ofthe Andean Community. Oursecondary market is in Con-tinental Central America andits islands.

Even though we are notwidely known in the Ameri-can market, we have had a

share there for many years.There is a chance to exchangeproducts with Johnson’s cus-tomers through the partner-ship we are developing. In fact,we have already exported tothe U.S. this year.

WWhhaatt ssppeecciiffiicc aaccttiioonnss ddooeessMMAACC ccaarrrryy oouutt ttoo pprrootteecctt tthheeeennvviirroonnmmeenntt??

A significant benefit for theenvironment comes from our

modern sustainability ap-proach. We can pick up usedbatteries that may have beendisposed of inappropriatelyand may be harmful. We canprocess them and recover100% of lead and polypropy-lene. We can also treat the elec-trolyte appropriately, which issulfuric acid and water, to useit subsequently in other tasksat the same plant. If it mustrun through the sewer system,we can ensure adequate con-ditions to avoid any inconve-nience.

We can also guarantee a safeprocess in social, environ-mental and labor terms.

We have the necessary tech-nological conditions to achieveit. Not only do we have the ad-equate filters but also an in-dustrial waste treatment plant,

inside-process controls andtraining for our staff.

Our goal is to reach whatwe call ‘closed cycle’. Thismeans that everything can re-main here at the plant. It isthe capacity to process in-coming hazardous waste andfinally generate raw materialto create new products. At theend of the process, remainsshould be sent to another in-dustry. Meanwhile, we have alandfill in proper conditionsthat meet environmental reg-ulations.

MMAACC hhaass rreecceeiivveedd aa lloott ooffpprriizzeess.. WWhhaatt ddooeess MMAACC mmeeaannttoo yyoouu aafftteerr iittss hhiissttoorryy ooffggrroowwtthh aanndd ssuucccceessss?? WWhheerree iissMMAACC nnooww aanndd wwhheerree ddoo yyoouuddrreeaamm iitt wwiillll bbee iinn tthhee yyeeaarrss ttooccoommee??

I have worked for MACsince a very young age becausewe used to come and work onseveral things during schoolbreaks. I have been working inauditing in MAC’s financialarea since 1985 because I stud-ied accounting. I have beenrunning the business since2001, when I took over mybrother’s position as he wasappointed Minister of Minesand Energy. This job has beena fascinating learning experi-ence.

I am interested in people andtheir professional growth. I findgreat satisfaction when I visitthe plant and see people whoare satisfied with our achieve-ments and their fulfilled indi-vidual goals.

As businesspeople, we areresponsible for providing thecompany with sustainabilityto last in time. However, it isimportant for businesspeopleto have a soul. I mean, work-ers must appreciate them andthey must struggle for them-selves and for the company.

In the years to come, I see ahuge company with the mar-ket share we currently have. Iwas lucky to celebrate our firstmillion batteries and reach 3million in an even shorter term.This has not happened bychance at all, but it is ratherthe result of hard work. Afterreaching 3 million, we ought totake the risk to achieve 6 mil-lion batteries. This is a riskygrowth process where we hadbetter be confident about amarket which will buy thisproduct once it is made. Ad-ditionally, we must have bothequipment and well-trainedstaff to face this challenge.

To understand what ‘SocialBusiness Responsibility’ is,the structure of the Colom-bian society needs to be un-derstood first.

Each citizen is a part of nu-merous branches includingacademics, the governmentand companies. Each one hasa role to play inside the con-struction, transformation anddevelopment of its society.Such roles are related to eachperson’s personal activitiesthat move each individualforward with the rights andresponsibilities that each cit-izen should have and carryout in society. These re-sponsibilities would be re-specting each other, society,culture and nature, abidingby the law, and the duties ofeach citizen. The survival andsustainability of a societylargely depend on how eachindividual executes his or herrole.

Currently, the Social Busi-ness Responsibility of everycompany demands that theycontribute positively to theirneighbor, community or tosociety in general. This is thebeginning of developing busi-ness participation from anethical perspective that rec-ognizes human dignity andplays a substantial role in eco-nomic and social success.

Colombia’s Social BusinessResponsibility project wasstarted to combat multiplearising problems in the coun-try – changes in the envi-ronment, the decrease inquality of life, corporate scan-dals due to lack of businessedict, and the violation of hu-man rights, among others.

As the World BusinessCouncil for Sustainable De-velopment defines it: “It is apermanent commitment ofbusinesses to behave ethi-cally and to contribute to the economic developmentwhile at the same time bet-tering the quality of life ofworkers and their families inthe local community and forfamilies in general.”

Now under way, the SocialBusiness Responsibility pro-ject has numerous objectives:to satisfy the fundamental

needs of the population, toprotect natural resources bymeans of employing cleantechnology, not sacrificingpresent or future generations,and to facilitate the con-struction of a people-cen-tered society.

This voluntary commit-ment that organizations andbusinesses take on, settingup expectations in the mat-ter of integral human devel-opment that are generatedwith the interested partiesincluding workers, clients,suppliers, social agents, andcommunities. It permits theorganizations to assure theeconomic growth, social de-velopment, and a balancedecology.

Social Business Responsi-

bility is divided into six parts:suppliers, corporate govern-ment, community, employ-ees, environment, and goodsand services. Each part op-erates with specific guide-lines to strengthen social andeconomic communication.

Benefits in every area areseen due to the practice ofthe Social Business Respon-sibility. With human andworkers rights, work hourshave been distributed differ-ently, which has resulted inless truancy and less stress.Costs have been reduced, andthe culture within the workenvironment strengthened.In the goods and services sec-tor, clients and consumersare seeing many changes. Thequality of goods and serviceshave increased, raising thesatisfaction level, client loy-alty has been generated andthe understanding of themarket has improved.

Now under way, the Social Business Responsibilityproject aims to meet the basic needs of thepopulation and protect the environment

MAC is the leadingbattery manufacturer inColombia. Created in1957, it now has close to54% of the nationalbattery market and91.5% of MAC batteriescome from the originalbattery assembly lines

In January, Beatriz Uribe Botero,the current Minister of Envi-ronment, Housing and Territo-rial Development of Colombia,presented the strategies that willbe included in the National De-velopment Plan (NDP) for herministry’s corresponding sec-tors over the next four years toPresident Santos.

“The goals are ambitious and challenging,” she affirms.“One of these challenges is con-solidating the structural reformsof the drinking water sector andbasic cleanup.”

With regard to the NDP, Mrs.Uribe says, “The project needsan efficient and sustainable man-agement team that can con-tribute to the social development,economy, and environment ofthe country. We will invest in thewater and sewage infrastructure,with our focus on the most vul-nerable population.”

The environment sector’s ob-jectives will be concentrated onguaranteeing the conservationof biodiversity and ecosystems.This will be achieved throughthe coordination of urban, en-

vironmental and administra-tion sectors, including produc-tion agents, the government andsociety.

The private sector is also aninvolved and responsible part-ner of environmental protec-tion. Acoplasticos, the 50-yearold Colombian association rep-resenting companies in the plas-tics, chemical, petrochemical,rubber, paint, ink and fiber sec-tors, stands firmly behind re-sponsible consumption ofproducts.

“A responsible consumptionshall lead to three lines of action,the first one of which is con-sumption rationalization, whichis in essence an issue of indi-vidual awareness,” says CarlosAlberto Garay, president ofAcoplasticos. “The second con-cept is reuse. It is true that plas-tic containers are made for ashort life, but they are indeedreusable.”

“The third message is to re-cycle when possible. The recy-cling process in Colombia is aprocess that has an importantsocial impact,” he concludes.

Investments in water and sanitation infrastructure will befocused on society’s most vulnerable and initiativeslaunched to reduce Colombia’s exposure to climate change

Strategicobjectives toprotect theenvironment

Strategies included in the National Development Plan (NDP) include efforts to guarantee the conservation of Colombia’s massive biodiversity and intricate ecosystems

Maria Fernanda Meija, President of MAC

THE SOCIALBUSINESSRESPONSIBILITYPROJECT AIMS TOSATISFY PEOPLE’SFUNDAMENTALNEEDS, TO PROTECTNATURALRESOURCES BYUSING CLEANTECHNOLOGY, AND TO CREATE APEOPLE-CENTEREDSOCIETY



COLOMBIA

The FIFA U-20 World CupColombia 2011 will be the 18thedition since FIFA launched itsWorld Youth Championship in1977. Prepared with a wide se-lection of tourism offers in ad-dition to the sports event, theColombian cities involved willoffer packages such as historyand culture, nature, sun andsand and adventure as part ofa ‘Discover Colombia throughSoccer’ campaign organized bythe country’s investment pro-motion agency, Proexport.

Host cities include the livelyand warm Barranquilla, knownfor its tropical climate, WorldHeritage carnival and thrivinggastronomic and cultural offer.Barranquilla will kick off thetournament on July 29 with theBrazil-Egypt match, and thefirst 25 games of the champi-onship will be held there inColombia’s largest stadium.

The 2011 championship rep-resents the largest sportingevent ever hosted by Colombia.“Investment in infrastructurein the stadiums has exceeded$100 million,” says Rodrigo JoseCobo Morales, director of theFIFA U-20 World Cup.

In addition to Barranquilla,the other host cities are Bogo-ta, Cali, Medellin, Pereira,Cartagena, Manizales, and Ar-menia.

Well known for its musicalheritage, Cali boasts a long tra-dition of various musical styles,including merengue, vallena-to, currulao, meneito, reggae-ton and latin jazz. Since the

1990s, however, it is the globalcapital of salsa, with more than8,000 dancers and 50 danceschools, and the city’s streetsare alive with Caribbean beats.

Cartagena de Indias, with itsromantic cobbled streets andcolonial architecture, is sure todelight visitors. Meanwhile thenation’s capital Bogota, whichthe New York Times namedone of its ‘31 Places to Visit in2010’, reflects the emergingmodern urban face of Colom-bia’s transformation with its of-fice towers, parks and amplechoice of hotels, shopping andcultural exhibits.

Medellin, Colombia’s sec-ond-largest city, is a busy com-mercial and industrial hub withlively nightlife. It is also a glob-al fashion hub due to the re-gion’s thriving textile industryand boasts a number of excel-lent Colombian designers. Fi-nally, the Coffee Triangle ofManizales, Armenia andPereira is a verdant and pros-perous region, with majesticlandscapes dotted with coffeeplantations and a number ofoptions for naturetourism.

Expected to at-tract more than350,000 visitors – byearly May of this year,250,000 tickets had already been sold – President Santos haspromised the 52-match tournamentwill be the best in its 34-yearhistory.

During the April draws, thePresident said, “We will all con-tinue to work hard so thatthrough this sports event thewhole world realizes how won-derful this country is.”

Since it was chosen in 2008as host country for this year’sevent, beating neighboringcompetitor Venezuela, Colom-

bia’s Soccer Federation and itsfederal government, throughan inter-institutional commis-sion, have implemented a com-prehensive work plan to ensurethe event’s success and a qual-ity tournament.

“The most important legacyafter the World Cup is over isthe culture of watching foot-ball live without nets, safe, andwith the whole family,” says Mr.Cobo Morales. "Football is aphenomenon which managesto unite people, nations, and ifused as a weapon to pacify theworld it would surely be themost effective of all.”

Measures taken include a sol-id national security plan, spe-cially designed for the event,which will ensure the safety ofColombians and foreign visi-tors both in and out of the sta-diums. More than 56,000uniformed officers will patrolthe stadiums, training grounds,hotels, restaurants and streetsof the host cities. In addition, aspecial World Cup elite com-

mando unit has been createdthat comprises dozens of secu-rity groups expressly trained todeal with exceptional circum-stances, such as natural disas-ters and terrorist acts. Indeed,in recent pre-tournament in-spections, Colombia was giventhe thumbs up by FIFA repre-sentatives, who said that over-all the country was wellprepared for the event.

“What is amazing about foot-ball is the binding effect it caus-es: if we take 10 people fromvery different countries, whodo not speak the same languageand are not governed under thesame social rules, and give thema ball, they won’t take 10 min-utes to set up a game in whicheveryone understands perfect-ly the rules. That’s the magic offootball,” says Fernando Panes-so, manager of World Cup U-20. “Apart from the infra-structure created for the event,a great legacy to leave is thatthe whole world will see Colom-bia with different eyes.”


The FIFAUnder-20World Cup2011

THE OFFICIALMASCOT FOR THISYEAR’S FIFA U-20WORLD CUP IS THE RED MACAW,ONE OF SOUTHAMERICA’S MOSTCOMMON PARROTS

THE MASCOT’S WIDESMILE AND ATHLETICSTANCE REFLECT THEJOIE DE VIVRE OFTHE HOST NATION

‘INVESTMENT ININFRASTRUCTURE IN

THE STADIUMSHAS EXCEEDED

$100MILLION’

‘A GREATLEGACY TO

LEAVE IS THATTHE WHOLE

WORLD WILL SEECOLOMBIA WITHDIFFERENT EYES’

Between July 29 and August 20, eight Colombian capitalcities will host the world’s finest young soccer players as24 countries take part in the FIFA U-20 World Cup

A highly emotive event, FIFA’s U-20 World Cup 2011 will see soccer fans and players from 24 countries around the world proudly wearing their national colors


Although the Amazonoccupies a third ofColombia, it is the thecountry’s most seclud-ed and least populous

area. It forms a part of the great SouthAmerican region of the Amazonrainforest, which Colombia shareswith Bolivia, Suriname, Guyana,Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and Venezuela.To the west, the Amazon region ofColombia is surrounded by the An-des Mountains, which are known asthe Amazonic ‘piedemonte’.

The Colombian Amazon is hometo various ethnic groups, many ofwhich are Indians who work hard topreserve their customs and regionsin which they live. The Amazon re-gion also boasts a unique and in-credible biodiversity. While boatingor trekking, you can spot alligators,boa constrictors, jaguars, and cay-mans. Visit the Laguna de Tarapo-to, the area of the Pink AmazonianRiver Dolphins or experience pi-ranha fishing, an activity which hasbecome increasingly popular amongvisitors to the Amazon.

During a stay in the Amazon, manychoose to visit Letizia, the capital ofColombia’s Amazon region. Thesmall jungle town on the border ofBrazil and Peru is the gateway toColombia’s Amazon rainforest and

is a good place to start rainforesttours. There are many tour operatorsin Letizia and good hotels there, suchas Hotel Anaconda. Colombian trav-el agency Aviatur has also built house-boats so tourists can enjoy theAmazon’s beauty in tranquility. These

luxurious houseboats give visitorsthe option to move the boat to dif-ferent locations of their choice.

For those who choose to ventureout in the jungle a little more, Letiziais only a two hour boatride awayfrom Puerto Narinho. Thesmall village is a good basefor visitors to Amacay-acu National Park, as wellas for backpackers, kayak-ers, and pink dolphinwatchers. Casa Selva Ho-tel is a popular and com-fortable choice of hotel inPuerto Narinho.

Each one of the country’s six nat-ural regions has much to offer theinquisitive tourist. The geologicalcontrasts to be discovered herecould not be starker. Frozen high-lands in the mighty Andean moun-tain ranges, or cordilleras, are morethan 15,000 feet above sea level,whereas Colombia’s pristinebeaches line its coastlines lappedby both the Pacific Ocean and theCaribbean Sea. The three Andeancordilleras that run north-southseparate the western coastal low-lands from the almost empty east-ern plains.

Colombia also has some in-credible islands on both its Pacif-ic and Caribbean sides that havefascinating combinations of na-ture and history. Gorgona Island,a former island prison, is now aunique ecotourism destination,whereas San Andres has beautifulwhite-sand beaches and all-inclu-sive resorts.

The nation’s rainforests teemwith wildlife and biodiversity, aswell as being the home to numer-ous indigenous ethnic groups.

City life is no less spectacular.The capital Bogota is the coun-try’s largest city and the third-

highest in the world. It has someof the continent’s best museums,universities and restaurants, andis taking on an even more inter-national character as increasingnumbers of multinationals set upshop there.

Cali, in western Colombia andthe capital of the Cauca Valley De-partment, is the second largest cityin the country and the number oneplace for salsa music. Medellin isone of Latin America’s most pro-gressive and innovative cities, whileUNESCO-listed Cartagena de In-dias on the northern coast is a na-tional treasure with magnificentlypreserved colonial architecture.

Regions of Colombia

VISITORS CAN COMBINEEXPERIENCING THESOPHISTICATED CITYATMOSPHERE OFBOGOTA WITH A SWIMIN CRYSTAL WATERS ORTREK THROUGHRAINFOREST, ASCOLOMBIA TRULY IS ADIVERSE DESTINATION

Amazon RegionExperience the rainforestsand indigenous wildlifeCovering around 33% of the country but only 1% of its population, the region consistsmostly of traditional indigenous tribes and is a gem for those with a spirit of adventure

The Caribbean re-gion’s 1,000-milecoastline, pristinewaters, Caribbeanrhythms, and tropi-

cal ambience create an ideal lo-cation for comfort and relaxation.Not only does the natural beau-ty of the Caribbean offer tran-quility and hospitality, but also abustling nightlife, daytime ac-tivities, folklore and history.

Baranquilla, the most dense-ly populated city in the region,is famous for its annual Carni-val, which is among the biggestworldwide, coming only secondto the carnival in Rio de Janeiro.With its advanced infrastructure

and developed industry, Baran-quilla is also very multicultural,as early settlers included groupsof Arabs, Jews, Germans, Ital-ians, British, and Asians. This isalso reflected in the local food,which is as diverse as its people.

For a more tranquil setting,visit Capurgana for its seafoodand amazing jungle landscapes

next to the sea. Even more se-cluded is Cabo de la Vela, adesert beauty with quiet beach-es, inhabited by the indigenousWayuu people.

The city of Cartagena de In-dias, with its colorful walls andcolonial architecture, was de-clared a UNESCO Heritage Site

in 1984 and has hosted events likethe International Film Festivaland the International Music Fes-tival, to name but a couple. Fa-mous author Gabriel GarciaMarquez also spends much of histime in this city, and there aremany tours to familiarize your-self with some of the places thathave inspired his writing.

The Caribbeanregion of Colombia ison the northerncoast, next to theSierra Nevada deSanta Marta and bythe Andes mountainrange, making forsome of the mostunique landscapes in the world

Well-preserved Cartagena de Indias was declared a UNESCO Heritage Site in 1984

From soaking up the sun onvirgin beaches to diving intoa rich variety of cultures togetting drenched in one ofthe wettest places on Earth,Colombia has so much towhet the appetite of theadventurous visitor

THE ETHNICALANDBIOLOGICALDIVERSITY OFTHE AMAZONREGIONOFFERS AUNIQUEEXPERIENCE

COLOMBIA’SCOLONIALCHARACTER ISPRESERVEDVERY WELL INCITIES LIKEMOMPOX ORCARTAGENADE INDIAS

Caribbean RegionDiscover both the vibrancyand relaxation of the nation

The Amazon Region boastsan amazing biodiversitythat enables visitors to seealligators, boa constrictorsand jaguars while boatingor trekking


COLOMBIA


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Orinoquia RegionVast plains sweep eastern Colombia

Bordered by Pana-ma to the northand Ecuador tothe south, the Pacific region

forms the western slice ofColombia along the Pacif-ic Ocean.

The area has vast eco-logical, hydrographic, min-ing and forestry wealth, andboasts diverse geography,unique ecosystems and unex-ploited natural resources.

It is regarded as one of thewettest and most biodiverseplaces on the planet, withrainfall of about 157.5 inch-es per year, according to the

Ministry of Mines and En-ergy, although 523.6 incheswere recorded one year atLloro in the region’s ChocoDepartment.

With such large levels of

precipitation, the regionis crossed by numerousmighty and deep riverscutting through dense, hu-mid jungle areas. Some ofthem are the only waysthrough the largely forest-ed region. Intrepid ex-plorers have discoveredpristine, virgin beaches lin-

ing the coast here. Popayan is a beautiful

white-washed city that is per-haps second only to Carta-gena de Indias in terms ofthe splendor of its colonialarchitecture. Meanwhile,Cali claims to have unrivallednightlife.

Colombia’s mostpopulated regionis characterized by its dramatictopography and

climatic diversity. Home of themost famous coffee growingarea (the Eje Cafetero), the Andean region covers theColombian section of the con-tinent’s Andes mountain range.

Close to the Ecuadorianborder in the southwest ofColombia, the Andes dividesinto three distinct, approxi-mately parallel chains called

cordilleras (mountain ranges)that span the country north-eastwards to almost reach theCaribbean Sea and are referredto as the western, central andeastern mountain ranges.

In addition to its epony-mous highlands, the regionfeatures plateaus, valleys anddesert areas. Climate and veg-etation vary considerably ac-cording to altitude, from thehot river valleys and basins be-low 3,300 feet to the more pop-ulous and productive lands inthe temperate zone between

6,500-9,800 feet altitude, rightup to the frozen lands at 15,000feet and above.

Nestled at an elevation of8,700 feet above sea level isthe nation’s capital Bogota. Amix of Spanish, English andIndian influences, some 8.62million people now live in thethird-highest capital in theworld, and it is a city rich inculture and contrasts that hasbeen referred to as the ‘Athensof South America’ for its col-lection of universities and li-braries.

To the east of theAndes is a vastplain crossed bycountless riversthat flow into the

mighty Orinoco River. TheOrinoquia region is knownas the eastern plains fromthe Spanish llanos orientalesand includes the states ofArauca, Casanare, Meta andVichada. The climate is hotand dry, resulting in savan-nah vegetation, naturalgrasses, and a rich and var-ied fauna.

The region is rich in oil,with deposits discovered inArauca and Casanare at-tracting many new settlers,

and is also apt for extensiveranching.

Covering around 270,000square miles, or three-fifthsof the country’s area, the

llanos (plains) are sparselypopulated and the majorityof settlements are situated inthe foothills of the easterncordillera (mountain range)

of the Andes. Here you canfind a launch pad to the re-gion at Villavicencio, knownas the ‘gateway to the plains’.

Colombia’s agriculturalheartland is known for itsbeautiful sunsets and tradi-tional fincas (farms), whichdraw in visitors from Bogo-ta during holiday weekends.

The region is unbroken byhighlands except in the stateof Meta, where the Macare-na Sierra, an outlier of theAndes, has piqued scientists’interest as its vegetation andwildlife are believed to bereminiscent of those thatonce existed throughout theAndes mountain range.

On the Pacific side,Malpelo Islandattracts swarmsof hammerheadand silky sharks,

making it a highly popularsharkdiving expedition loca-tion. In 2006 it was declared aUNESCO World Heritage Siteand visitors to the island needto obtain a written permit fromthe Colombian Ministry of En-vironment.

In 1985 the Colombian stateacquired the rights to GorgonaIsland, also in the Pacific Ocean,and it was established as a Na-tional Park. A former prison

island, in a similar vein to Al-catraz Island, and famed for itsvenomous snakes, it has sincebeen developed as an eco-tourism center and whale-watching hotspot. Trips to the

old prison can be arranged, aswell as a host of other activities.

On the Caribbean side, thearchipelago of San Andres,Providencia and Santa Catali-na consists of two islandgroups and eight outlyingbanks and reefs. The main is-land of San Andres and Prov-idencia is highly influenced byEnglish, French and Africanheritage. In addition to itsamazing beaches, the island issurrounded to the northwestby a small coral reef and sev-eral keys that are home to var-ied fauna and flora that attracttourist in droves.

The huge Orinoco River forms part of the border between Colombia and Venezuela and is flanked by huge plains rich in flora and fauna

ONE OF THEWETTEST AND MOSTBIODIVERSEPLACES ONEARTH, MIGHTYRIVERS CUTTHROUGH THICKJUNGLES IN THEPACIFIC REGION

The area boasts diverse geography, unique ecosystems and unexploited natural resources

The Andean region is home to the majority of people in the country and is its most economically active

Rainfall has been known to exceed 523inches in one year

Colombia’s islands appeal to touristslooking for somewhere unique

The massive eastern plains are also suitable for extensive ranching

BOGOTA, MEDELLINAND CALI – THETHREE MOSTPOPULAR ANDECONOMICALLYPOWERFUL CITIESIN THE COUNTRY –ARE IN THE REGION

VISITORS FROMBOGOTA STAYON BEAUTIFUL,TRADITIONALFARMS DURINGHOLIDAYWEEKENDS AND CATCHSPECTACULARSUNSETS

COLOMBIA’SISLANDS ARE

HOME TOBREATHTAKING

COVES ANDOUTSANDING

NATURE IN TWO SEAS

Environmental conditions in the tierratemplada (temperate land) make itthe most arable and populous part

of Colombia’s Andean region

Pacific RegionUnique ecosystemsand natural resources

Insular RegionServe time on a desert island

Andean RegionA geographically diverse andculturally rich land of contrast

Various groups of small coastal islands in both the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea make up the Insular Region


COLOMBIA





COLOMBIA

Colombia’s diverse cultural influences includethose from Amerindian, African, Asian, Mid-dle Eastern, and European roots which reflectheavily on the diversity in Colombian art, mu-sic, literature and food. Most would agree thatthis makes the Colombian cultural sectors allthe more interesting to explore.

Over the years, Colombia has made great ef-forts to increase the diffusion of various cul-tural areas throughout the country. This effortbegan by means of radio more than half a cen-tury ago. H.J.C.K., The World in Bogota, F.M.Stereo was one of the first radio channels inColombia. The station was founded on Sep-tember 15, 1950 with the aim of raising the cul-tural level of the Colombian radio. This hassince become a reality, thanks to the manage-ment of Alvaro Castaño Castillo and his wife Glo-ria Valencia. Mr. Castaño, a man with one of themost remarkable memories of the country, hasbeen a pioneer in carrying out collections ofrecordings of the great poets and famous peo-

ple of Colombia, immortalizing the treasures ofColombian culture. One of the famous figuresto be on the station was Argentine writer, es-sayist and poet, Jorge Luis Borges. Like Mr.Borges, dozens of poets, writers, musicians andentrepreneurs have been in front of the micro-phones of the H.J.C.K The World in Bogota.

Colombia has a culture rich with literature andhas been the cradle of great writers like Novelistand Nobel Prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquezand Novelist Alvaro Mutis Jaramillo. The litera-ture of the country has had influences from theCatholic religion, its rocky colonial history, andeven from traditional folk tales and oral legends.

A big part of Colombian oral culture can beseen in its music. Colombian music consists ofmany music genres and in general, music is apart of the common Colombian’s everyday life.In Colombia there are many prominent musicstyles in every region. Every part of Colombiahas its own genre of music, with different dancesand histories behind each variety. Bambuco,

which is the national dance of Colombia, is verywell known among the people as well as otherLatin rhythms like vallenato, cumbia, and evensalsa. More modern genres include hip-hop,pop, and rock music. Colombians even cele-brate rock music with a yearly festival, Rock alParque, which apart from celebrating the genre,dedicates its cause to environmental sustain-ability. Many Colombian musicians have risento international fame in recent years with groupslike ChocQuibTown and Bomba Estereo, andartists like Shakira, Juanes and Carlos Vives.

If you want to see real artistic craftsmanship,beauty and history, Colombia holds endless pos-sibilities. Colombia holds a long tradition of theperforming arts in the country with the bi-an-nual Iberoamerican Theater Festival, which isthe biggest and most important theater festivalin the world. There are also numerous muse-ums where you can view sculptures and paint-ings from famous Colombian artists likeFernando Botero and Alejandro Obregon.

Not to be outdone, one of the most antici-pated aspects of Colombian culture is theColombian food and dining experience. Thefood varies across the different natural regionsof Colombia, due to the different ethnic influ-ences. Colombian food has gained worldwideacclaim, as figures like Leo Katz, Harry Sassonand Andres Jaramillo have helped jumpstartthe Colombian culinary industry, highlightingthe quality food people will find in this veryunique country.

Colombians can boast a truly diverse cultureof many influences. At present, one can seethat it is a combination of tradition, history andmodernity. Colombians have developed in eachof its cultural sectors, having thrived due totheir effectiveness, sophistication, and abundantresources. Up to this point, Colombian arti-sans of all natures have really begun to exporttheir talents and events worldwide, leading tothe successful spread of Colombian culture inboth the national and international arena.

It is difficult to encompass all of what Colombian culture is, as the culture is as diverse as its ethnic populations

Colombia has aculture rich withliterature and hasbeen the cradle ofgreat writers such asNovelist and NobelPrize winner GabrielGarcia Marquez, left,and Novelist AlvaroMutis Jaramillo

The range and diversity of theater and music in Colombia has proven it to be oneof the most vibrant nations in these arenas

A heady cultural mix brings out thebest in Colombia’s arts, music and food

GastronomyColombian cuisine is as var-ied as its regions, from Cre-ole fusions on the coastalareas to innovative restau-rants like El Cielo openingup. This 21st century restau-rant in Bogota is sure to sur-prise its visitors by usingchocolatherapy and otherunique fusions. Plus, LeoKatz, also known as King Mi-das for his knack for turninghis restaurateur projects togold, has successfully createdrestaurants like Cafe Renaultand Club Colombia with fel-low famed restaurateur Har-ry Sasson, serving the bestfood of every region.

MuseumsColombia’s museums are truetreasures in themselves,while holding an importantpart of this country’s her-itage. Colombia’s Botero Mu-seum is considered one of themost important museums inthe country with 85 works ondisplay from representativeartists like Picasso, Renoir,Dali, Matisse, Monet and Degas, to name a few. Thefounding artist, FernandoBotero, famous for his ‘fatpeople’ series of and a satiri-cal rendition of the MonaLisa, gave his own collectionof artistic works to the city ofBogota, which resulted in theformation of this museum.The Gold Museum is one ofthe most important muse-ums in the world, as it pre-serves Colombian culture in20,000 stones and in morethan 34,000 pieces of thisvaluable element. Just astone’s throw away from theGold Museum is the EmeraldMuseum, where one can seesome of the finest qualityemeralds in the world. AsColombia is the world’slargest emerald producer,producing about 60% of allemeralds, one can see the sci-ence and value behindColombian emeralds, whichare said to possess a bluishtinge in addition to the usualgreen color. One of Colom-bia’s oldest museums is theNational Museum, holdingone of the best collections inColombia. It boasts 17 exhi-bition rooms, 20,000 piecesranging from 10,000 B.C. tothe 20th century. Lastly, onecannot overlook the SaltCathedral, an architecturalwonder built 650 feet inside amountain in Zipaquira,about 30 miles north of Bo-gota.

LiteratureColombian-born author andjournalist Gabriel GarciaMarquez, or “Gabo”, as he iswarmly referred to by hisreaders, is believed to be oneof the world’s greatest writ-ers. He won the 1982 NobelPrize for Literature and wasone of the leading figures ofthe literary boom in LatinAmerica. He’s the author ofthe world-famous novel, One

Hundred Years of Solitude,which has sold millions ofcopies and has been translat-ed into many languages. Hehas gripped the literaryworld with his rich and imag-inative storytelling, and withhis masterpiece, he has estab-lished himself as a majorLatin American writer of20th century literature.

In light of his own greatachievements, Gabriel GarciaMarquez describes his closefriend and fellow Colombiannovelist, poet, and essayist Al-varo Mutis Jaramillo as “oneof the greatest writers of ourtime.” Mr. Mutis has receivednumerous literary awards forwriting the compendium TheAdventures and Misadven-tures of Magroll.

TheatersEvery two years, the city ofBogota hosts the Iberoameri-can Theater Festival (FITB),which is acknowledged as thebiggest and most importanttheater festival in the world.For 17 days, the city cele-brates all genres of the per-forming arts. Renownedartists and over 200 compa-nies from all over the globeare welcomed and presentedin disciplines such as theater,dance, circus, music, pup-petry, pantomime, multime-dia and performance art.FITB even provides work-shops, courses, seminars andforums by dramatists, pro-ducers, directors, actors andtheater professionals, allow-ing for reflection and ex-change among the artisticcommunity.

Colombia has benefittedgreatly from the FITB overthe past 18 years, as its sectorof performing arts has devel-oped and become an impor-tant part of life in Bogota. Forthe duration of the festival,the city and all of its perfor-mance venues are utilized togive space for artistic expres-sion, drawing in audiencesranging between 4,000 and8,000 people per show.

MusicChocQuibTown, a Colombianmusic group, has used funk,hip-hop, Jamaican ragga, andelectro music together withColombia’s traditional soundsto become an internationalsuccess. Newer groups likeBomba Estereo have also beenvery successful, nationally andinternationally, receiving ravereviews from The New YorkTimes and even being named‘The Best New Band in theWorld’ by MTV. Numerousmusicians have put Colombiaon the map, like Juanes whohas earned many major inter-national awards by mixingfolklore, rock, pop and guitar.In addition to mesmerizing thecrowds with amazing dancemoves, Shakira has reachedout to her audiences in both

Spanish and English with hermusic and compassion. Thestar is an ambassador forUNICEF and dedicates muchof her time to Fundacion PiesDescalzos, promoting educa-tion and helping children whoare victims of violence. A fel-low Colombian philanthropicmusician, Carlos Vives, hasused his celebrity to raise mon-ey for the Herbalife FamilyFoundation that provides nu-trition programs for at-riskchildren. Bogota will soon hostRock al Parque, the largest freeopen-air festival in LatinAmerica, which will also pro-mote environmental sustain-ability.




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