Colombia, among the three most attractive countries to invest

The country was selected as the second destination of future investments during the first event of the FDI Awards held in China last November. See this story on video.

This award was given by the Foreign Direct Investment Association, an organization dedicated to promoting investment between countries, connecting corporate leaders with investment promotion agencies, such as PROCOLOMBIA and other private and public institutions in the world that encourage business development.

"It is a very cherished recognition and a vote of confidence towards Colombia as an attractive business-friendly destination, and to our organization that has launched in over 30 countries, a strategy which allows us to provide personalized information to companies that have expansion plans and offer ongoing and confidential support to help them explore the opportunities the Colombian regions have to offer". Said Maria Claudia Lacouture, president of PROCOLOMBIA Colombia.

Mark Arend, the editor of Site Selection Magazine - a specialized media outlet reaching 49,000 corporate executives and co-organizer of the awards - said " the recognition of these promotional agencies can only mean that they have best practices in attracting foreign investment worldwide. They demonstrate that the policies which are currently in place definitely exceed the expectations of foreign investors when they settle in a country".

In their official communication, the FDI Association makes a special recognition to the work of advertising agencies and their crucial role in attracting foreign capital. "They work hard and accomplish great things, usually with limited budgets. When a company makes a significant investment the media headlines concentrate on the company, in the amount and the number of jobs created. If a promotion agency played a role in that investment, their job is sometimes inconspicuous and even invisible. These awards aim to highlight the professionalism and creativity of their work ".

During the IDF Awards, first place as an investment destination was awarded to the city of Birmingham in the UK, second place to Colombia and the third place to the Czech Republic. All of them were honored during the World Forum for Foreign Direct Investment in Shanghai (China).

The judges in charge of selecting the winners included Andreas Dressler, the director of Terrain Global; Jason Hickey, the president of Hickey & Associates; Yin Hong, director of Jones Lang LaSalle China; Roel Spee, global leader of international plant location for IBM; Shirar O'Connor, director of The PONT Group 's; Robert Pittman, director of Janus Economics and David East, director of fDi Intelligence.