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As part of the Local Development Forum being held by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Cartagena until Friday, various experts discussed the opportunities and challenges of attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to Colombia.
LEA TAMBIÉN
For Vicky Osorio, director of Probarranquilla, the investment attraction and promotion agency for Barranquilla and the Atlantic region, Colombia is a country of regions and only through coordinated work between the local and national levels can good results be achieved.
“We are responsible for bringing new investment projects to the region. In particular, we see potential in services and manufacturing. We need to take advantage of our logistics and export capacity to access international markets”, she said.
Among the obstacles they are facing, she said that building a brand is a process that requires years and knowledge to be able to reach international markets.
“Gaining access to ports, labor, and security takes time. It is important to create public-private partnerships and aligned visions in order to really have an impact,” she said.
Vicky Osorio is the director of Probarranquilla. Foto:Sergio Cárdenas. El Tiempo
Along the same lines, María Paula Arenas, vice president of investment at Procolombia, said that each region of the country has its own particularities and that investments must be tailored to each territory.
“When we want to attract investment and show the world what the country is like, we have to land in Colombia and see each region’s particularities,” she said.
Puerta de Oro, venue for the OECD Local Development Forum 2025 Foto:Sergio Cárdenas. EL TIEMPO
For her part, Carolina Rosales González, executive director of Invest in Cartagena, pointed out that the capital of the department of Bolívar has to take advantage of its maritime strength. “We have the third most efficient port in the world. It is the gateway to markets such as the United States,” she said.
In addition, she said that they have created a package of tax incentives for sectors such as tourism, services, technology, and defense, among others, in order to develop them.
Meanwhile, Lucía Cusmano, head of the SME and Entrepreneurship Division at the OECD Center for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions, and Cities, pointed out that foreign investment can be a very powerful driver of local business development.
On July 8 and 11, parallel events will be held by official OECD partners. Foto:Alcaldía
“If you want to diversify and attract high-value innovations, it is essential to involve people and keep abreast of technological changes,” she said.
The Local Development Forum expects to bring together more than 3,400 people over four days at the city’s Puerta de Oro Convention Center. The various sessions will address topics such as fair labor markets, entrepreneurship, sustainability, innovation, digitization, and cooperation.
Noelia Cigüenza
EL TIEMPO
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