US COMPANIES DEVELOPED MORE THAN 40 PROJECTS IN BOGOTA LAST YEAR

​Invest in Bogota reports that in 2018, Bogota experienced a 37% increase in greenfield foreign direct investment compared to 2017 and received more than USD 2.7 billion as a result of new and expansion projects.

With more than 40 projects and USD 414 million in investments in 2018, American companies continue to position themselves as key players of greenfield foreign direct investment in the Colombian capital.

Spain, France, Mexico and Chile are just some of the other countries that have ventured into greenfield foreign investment projects in the Colombian capital, which shows that Bogota is not only an attractive business destination for Latin America, but for other regions of the world as well.

The most popular sectors to invest in include textiles (18.8%), software and IT services (12.87%), consumer products (11.88%), corporate services (9.9%) and telecom (7.43%).

These positive figures are not only for 2018. Over the last ten years, the city's GDP grew by 3.6%, which exceeded the average for Latin America (2%). According to estimates from the Research and Market Intelligence department of Invest in Bogota, the city's investment agency, Bogota-Region received more than USD 22.2 billion in greenfield foreign direct investment for new and expansion projects in the last decade, which account for approximately 35% of Colombia's total. There are more than 1,100 projects from foreign companies that have created over 119,000 new jobs.

Looking ahead, foreign direct investment is expected to keep rising. The outlook is positive: in the first quarter of the year, Colombia received more than USD 3.3 billion in foreign investment, an increase of more than 68% compared to the same period in 2018, when the economy experienced a significant slowdown.

These figures could be explained by the prospects for greater economic growth by the end of 2019, which will in turn boost the confidence of investors. On the other hand, thanks to the appreciation of the exchange rate, foreign companies could be more willing to invest in projects with foreign currency-denominated debt or that export a percentage of their production.

Bogota Has the Best Regional Investment Promotion Agency of South America

Invest in Bogota, Investment Promotion Agency (IPA) of the capital city of Colombia, was recognized by the Site Selection Magazine as the best regional IPA of South America. Juan Gabriel Perez, executive director of Invest in Bogota, received the award during a ceremony in Sydney (Australia), at The World Forum for Foreign Direct Investment.

"Been recognized as the best regional IPA of South America, an award we have received five times in a row, challenges us to keep bringing the best investments to the city, generating revenue for its inhabitants and allowing more companies to see the capital as the gateway to the Region", highlighted Pérez.

As part of Bogota's Smart Specialization Strategy, a road map created by local government, private sector and the academy for the transformation of the capital through innovation and technology, the city has identified five sectors with the highest potential for foreign investment attraction, including infrastructure projects, creative industries, IT and BPO, life sciences and manufactured products.

The selection of the winning agencies was made after carrying out 1,000 surveys with international experts that evaluated aspects such as professionalism in the responses to investors; the team's knowledge, language skills; the reputation of the agency among the companies that arrived to the country, after-care and reinvestment services; and the ease of access to the information provided by direct channels and web page, among others.

During the ceremony, ProColombia, entity that promotes international tourism, foreign investment and non-traditional exports in Colombia, was also recognized as the best national IPA of South America, while Invest Pacific, IPA from Valle del Cauca, received the award as the best regional IPA of South America, recognition shared with Invest in Bogota.

According to Flavia Santoro, president of ProColombia, "this award is proof of the commitment of the ProColombia team and of entities such as Invest in Bogota and Invest Pacific which, day after day, guide investors with valuable information in their decision-making process, so that these results are profitable for them and also contribute to the generation of equity, growth and development of all regions in Colombia".

Only in 2018, Invest in Bogota facilitated the arrival of 43 investment projects for 258 million dollars. Since 2007, the agency has supported 336 projects that have left an estimated investment of more than 2.3 billion dollars to the city.