FDI Intelligence Acknowledges Future Investing Opportunities in Bogota, Neiva, and Bucaramanga

These three Colombian cities were selected among 421 major cities in the Americas, and they present investment opportunities in sectors including agribusiness, manufacturing, and services.

The 2015-2016 American Cities of the Future report issued by the intelligence division of British newspaper Financial Times, published the list of best cities where to invest. Bogota is number three overall in South America; Neiva is number eight in the region regarding cost-effectiveness; and Bucaramanga is number ten regarding best FDI attraction strategy in the continent.

“The Colombian economy remains among the most attractive in Latin America, regarded as being the third country in the region with the largest foreign investment totaling $16.05 billion USD in 2014, which resulted in more high-quality jobs for Colombians. This publication reflects our regions’ growth and outreach, promoting investment diversification in our territory”, stated the President of ProColombia, Maria Claudia Lacouture.
The evaluation included the following five categories: economic potential, ease to do business, human capital and life style, cost-effectiveness, and connectivity.

ProColombia works hand in hand with the country’s regional promotion offices to attract new business deals that generate jobs, development, and technology transfer to boost the local industry’s competitiveness to become international players.

Bogota: One of the Three Top Cities to Invest in South America

FDI Intelligence places Bogota among the three main regions in South America to do business based on their economic potential, assessing variables like per capita GDP, unemployment rate, inflation, and foreign investment. It also ranks Bogota as number seven within Latin America, as a result of its human capital, work force, expenditure for education, number of universities, and life expectancy.

ProColombia, together with Invest in Bogota, identified opportunities for international projects focused on hotel and tourism infrastructure, the automotive sector, outsourcing, cosmetics and toiletries, agribusiness, and software and IT services.

In 2014, both promotion offices supported the arrival of 29 projects from 12 different countries in Bogota, with investments worth $831 million USD and an expectation to create more than 4,600 new jobs in sectors like hotel infrastructure, automotive industry, processed foods, equity funds, information technologies, BPO, telecommunications, and retail.

Colombia’s capital features a favorable digital environment to promote the city as an attractive destination, added to the work by different institutions which promote Bogota at a global level as a developed and competitive city, including Invest in Bogotá, the Chamber of Commerce of Bogota, the District Institute of Tourism, Greater Bogotá Convention Bureau, and ProColombia.

Neiva: Cost-Effectiveness Leader in South America

According to the report, Huila’s capital is the most profitable city in South America, and eighth overall in Latin America.

This classification takes into account variables such as cost of living and real estate rental, as well as preferential costs related to market products globally that come from Free Trade Zones.

According to Invest in Huila, Neiva features key tax-related incentives like 10-year exemptions from industry and commerce and real-estate for those that open new companies and generate jobs. Also, the region has important agribusiness activities especially around fish farming, specialty coffee, cocoa, tobacco, and hydraulic energy sectors.

It also has a strategic location. The city is a meeting point for 4g highway projects, which will connect this region with the Pacific Ocean, the department of Putumayo, Venezuela, Ecuador, and the central region of Colombia.

Bucaramanga: Number One in FDI Attraction Strategies in Latin America

Santander’s capital is the only city in Latin America listed in the FDI Intelligence's Top 10 American Cities regarding the implementation of foreign investment strategies.

According to Invest in Santander, there are sectors driving FDI in the region, where industries like petrochemistry, Free Trade Zones, and tourism, sectors like metalworking, construction, aviculture, footwear, jewelry, and apparel, and top companies providing software, health, and education, stand out in the classifications with the highest development and job creation rates in the department.

According to the National Administrative Department of Statistics, the so-called City of Parks (Ciudad de los Parques) or Beautiful City (Ciudad Bonita) has the second-best income per capita in the country, with a monthly average of $1.8 million COP, right behind Bogota and nearly twice the average domestic income, with an inflation rate of 1.3%, less than half of the national rate.

ProColombia helped bring six FDI projects in the BPO, software and IT, retail, agriculture and tourism infrastructure sectors, with investments worth $150 million USD which, according to entrepreneurs, are expected to create 2,600 new jobs.