Colombia stands out as a destination for responsible investment by Spanish companies

Colombia is a notable destination for responsible investment by Spanish companies, which was made more than apparent at the Spain-Colombia Meeting, held on Wednesday, 24 August, at the head office of the Chamber of Commerce of Bogotá, as part of the official visit by the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, to Colombia and Ecuador, and which was attended by more than 800 businesspeople from both countries.

The event, organised by the CEOE in collaboration with the Secretary of State for Trade, through ICEX and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, and with the support of ANDI, ProColombia and the Bogota Chamber of Commerce, was closed by the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, and the Colombian Minister of Finance and Public Credit, José Antonio Ocampo.

Business opportunities in Colombia

The bilateral business meeting were used to assess the state of relations with Spain, to set out success stories of companies from both countries and to highlight the importance of promoting responsible investment in the region. Besides the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, and the Minister Ocampo, the event was attended by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto; her Colombian counterpart, Germán Umaña; the Secretary of State for Trade, Xiana Méndez; the Vice-President of the CEOE, Íñigo Fernández de Mesa; the President of the National Association of Businessmen of Colombia-ANDI, Bruce Mac Master; his counterpart from the Bogota Chamber of Commerce, Nicolás Uribe; and the heads of companies from both countries, among others.

At the meeting’s opening session, Íñigo Fernández de Mesa, representing the CEOE and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, highlighted the importance of strengthening public-private partnerships in the country to exploit of macroeconomic and regulatory stability, and to promote the experience of Spanish companies in economic sectors in high demand in Colombia, such as infrastructure and those concerning climate change and biodiversity.

Fernández de Mesa also stressed that our society faces the challenge of making Spanish the language of sustainability, new technologies and artificial intelligence, and that there are outstanding Spanish companies operating Colombia in these areas to meet this challenge. He added that Latin America is the most biodiverse region in the world and is currently attracting the largest environmental funding on the planet.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, stressed that “Spanish companies’ solid commitments consolidates our country’s position as the second-largest investor in Colombia”.

After the business meeting, four sectorial round tables were held in which the Colombian Minister of Mines and Energy, Irene Vélez; the Vice-Minister of Foreign Trade, Luis Fernando Fuentes; the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, María Constanza García; the General Manager of Metro de Bogotá, Leónidas Narváez; and the Executive President of CAF, Sergio Díaz-Granados, presented the priorities and sectors of opportunity for Spanish companies in the areas of infrastructure, energy, foreign trade and the environment.

The Spanish business delegation also held a meeting with senior representatives of ProColombia and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade, Luis Fernando Fuentes.

Bilateral relations

Spain has become an important trading partner for Colombia. Spain’s exports to the Colombian market were worth 1.1018 billion euros in 2021, 48.1% more than the previous year, making Spain the 9th country for Colombian imports (2.2% of their total). In terms of imports, Spain’s imports were worth €610 million in 2021, 29.4% more than in 2020, ranking it as the 13th destination country for Colombian exports.

With the provisional data for 2022 (January-April), Spanish exports to Colombia were worth 471 million euros, 50.6% more than in the same period of 2021. This good relationship is also reflected in trade in services, in which tourism from Colombia is notable. 

In terms of investment, bilateral relations are stable, but the last two years have been characterised by a reduction in flows between the two countries due to the impact of COVID-19. In 2021, Spain remained the leading European investor, with €150.3 million’s worth of gross investment flows, almost 50% lower than in 2020 and 72% lower than in 2019, which amounts to an investment position of €5.8634 billion in stock in 2019 (latest available data). In the first quarter of 2022, Spain had gross investment flows of 113 million, almost five times more than in the same period in 2021 and 76% more than in the first quarter of 2020.

Ecuador

After the event in Bogota, the delegation accompanying the Prime Minister will participate this Thursday, 25 August, in a major Spain-Ecuador Business Meeting coordinated by the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the Secretary of State for Trade, through ICEX Spain Export and Investment and the CEOE, with businesspeople from both countries, business institutions and representatives of both governments.

In the case of Ecuador, the CEOE is represented by the Director General of CEOE International and Permanent Secretary of CEIB, Narciso Casado, who will also hold meetings with Ecuadorian government authorities and representatives of the country’s business organisations.

The conference is an excellent opportunity for Spanish companies to learn first-hand about the Ecuadorian government’s priorities, as well as the sectors offering opportunities and projects that will be running in the country. The Prime Minister was accompanied by the Minister Reyes Maroto, the Secretary of State Xiana Méndez, the Director General of CEOE International, Narciso Casado, and a notable delegation of Spanish companies with interests in this Latin American country.

Representing Ecuador at the business meeting were the President of the Republic, Guillermo Lasso; the Minister of Trade, Investment, Production and Fisheries, Julio José Prado; and the heads of the country’s leading companies.