Opportunities to invest in infrastructure in Colombia

Why Invest in Infrastructure? Investment opportunities in Colombia

Since joining the OECD, Colombia has become a destination for investment in social infrastructure, urban development and transport.

The country is currently home to 15 infrastructure development projects, which are in the planning and structuring phase and in search of foreign investment.

"Colombia is transforming itself through the modernization of its infrastructure," said Carlos Alberto Sandoval, vice president of structuring at Colombia's National Development Financer (FDN). "As a development bank specializing in the financing and structuring of infrastructure, we at the FDN have been responsible for catalysing resources for financing the largest road program with PPP in Latin American, as well as structuring other projects, such as the Bogota metro, which has attracted the interest of international financers and important global construction companies."

Advantages of investing in infrastructure in Colombia

Investment in infrastructure in Colombia, especially in projects that focus on improving the connectivity between the country's regions, is one of the best ways to improve the country's competitiveness and connectedness to access markets across the globe.

Here are some of the reasons why Colombia is an important destination for investment in infrastructure:

• Colombia is in a privileged position, having coasts in two oceans, the Pacific and the Atlantic. It is also close to the Panama Canal, which is the main focus of international trade.
• Colombian ports are connected to more than 4,300 shipping routes, serving 27 shipping companies and more than 355 ports worldwide.
• Colombia moved more than 205 million tons of cargo, and 3.4 million containers, through its port areas, in 2017. More than one million tonnes were transported by air, including national cargo and mail.
• Colombia has more than 2,400 cargo export routes, direct and via connections, offered by 30 airlines that have access to 514 cities.
• The Colombian government has designed a National Urban Transport Policy, through which the Integrated Mass Transport System (SITM) and the Strategic Public Transport Systems (SETP) are conceptually structured.

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Colombia's main infrastructure projects

• First line of the Bogotá Metro, which will have a 23.96km route and 15 stations, connecting the north-east and south-east of Bogota. Construction will take approximately five years, at an estimated cost of USD $4.347bn.
• Elevated light rail in Rionegro, which will transport around 500,000 passengers per day and make Rionegro, in Antioquia, Colombia's first municipality to have this kind of train.
• The Western 'Regiotram' project, which seeks to connect the municipalities around Bogota. It will run for 41km, with 18 stations and transport more than 200,000 passengers per day. The investment required is USD $1.7bn.
• The Master Plan for Intermodal Transport (PMTI), which is the largest infrastructure project in Latin America and seeks a USD $69.3bn investment. The plan includes the expansion of the 4G road infrastructure, with more than 7,000km of new roads, more than 1,370km of two-lane roads, two tunnels, the modernization, adaptation and expansion of 31 airports and the transformation of Colombia's tertiary road network, which currently covers 142,284km, as well as the National Fluvial Plan, which includes eight investment projects and intervention in eight rivers in order to construct a fluvial network.

Colombia is also advancing the development of infrastructure project in the country's secondary and tertiary cities, including road, sanitary and wastewater facilities in cities such as Santa Marta, Valledupar, Manizales and Ibague.

Investment in these initiatives, including by foreign investors, is essential. Not only will investors benefit directly, they will also be contributing to Colombia's modernization and improve the quality of life for millions of Colombians. Lasting investment is the key to the long-term growth of infrastructure in Colombia.

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