Bogota 2013 Blog: Opening Remarks; International Environment and Colombia's Performance

AS/COA's Senior Director of Public Policy Programs and Corporate Relations Ragnhild Melzi opened the conference with remarks and an overview, followed by Fedesarrollo Executive Director Leonardo Villar, who talked about the Colombia's performance in the international environment.

Melzi opened the conference noting that Colombia's 4 percent economic growth is above Latin America's average, and that an increase of 18 percent in foreign investment resulted in a total of $17 billion in the last year. She pointed to the country's programs to improve competitiveness, it's participation at the Pacific Alliance and how the new trade bloc, which accounts 35 percent of Latin Americas GDP, could eventually grow to become a competitor to Brazil, responsible for the largest share of the region's economy today. She also discussed Colombia's advancements in its peace process and a great hemispheric hopes for the end of 50 years of conflict.

Kicking off the conference's analysis of Colombia's growth prospects and its medium- and long-term macroeconomic projections, Executive Director of Fedesarrollo Leonardo Villar discussed the international economic context, an evolution of financial indicators in Colombia, and the country's production activities and expectations for growth.

Villar commented on the IMF and OECD's revised estimates for the world's expected economic growth for this year as being 3.2 percent, the deceleration of China's economy, and developed countries' stock market success in a context of low economic growth. He explained Colombia's changing exchange rate and the country's monetary policies, a possibly rising consumer optimism for 2013, and projected growths of 5 percent growth in the agricultural sector and 6.5 percent in the mining sectors for the year.

Download the presentation by Fedesarrollo Executive Director Leonardo Villar.
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