Financial Times: Colombia, an attractive place for buying and investing
The article “Colombia: a glittering hotspot for investments and shoppers” aims a spotlight on foreign capital investments and participation, like the residential project Vitrum in northern Bogota, led by the renowned architect Richard Meier, or the presence of the Peruvian chef Gastón Acurio’s restaurant Astrid & Gastón, which is in the same vein as the ones he opened in San Francisco and Madrid. Bogota is being consolidated as a magnet for foreign investment targeted at different sectors.
The FT article specifies that it is not just the Colombian capital that has captivated businessmen from afar, nor is Bogota the only city with purchasing power. Cartagena is located less than an hour away by plane and has become the most elegant, fashionable city in northern Colombia. It has a substantial infrastructure for events, is a meeting point for addressing business agendas and holding corporate and political events, and furthermore, it has a busy port that is very convenient due to its access to the Caribbean Sea.
The periodical stresses that economic conditions have improved in Colombia, which has given rise to the resurgence of a larger productive, competent, and well-off middle class. As of May, unemployment figures are under two digits at 8.8%, according to figures from the DANE. The FT maintains that there are more job opportunities, better incomes to be had, more possibilities for credit, and that Colombian real estate has notably increased in value over the past few years.
The article sets forth that it is increasingly common to become affluent in Colombia through work, development, and entrepreneurship. According to a WealthInsight study from last October, the country has generated more millionaires than countries like Brazil and Mexico.
In conversations with the FT, Robert Kunzel, the general manager of GPCars, a local Maserati importer, stated that “Something is definitely happening in Colombia.” Last year, the Italian luxury brand sold five cars valued at US$250,000. Given the conditions, Kunzel hopes to sell 70 in 2016. “This was unthinkable a decade ago.”
Finally, the FT emphasizes that in addition to the fact that luxuries are increasingly abundant in Colombia, the country is also exporting them. Such is the case for the brands created by Silvia Tcherassi and Tatiana Santo Domingo, among others, which are promoting a positive image of the country around the world.
