Presented by: Marco Rojas
Presented to: Gloria Walker 12/10/2014
Colombia: Opening to the World Colombia had one of the cruelest histories in the last part of the 20th century. The country was home of one of the biggest drug lords that history has ever seen (Pablo Escobar) and the corruption was one of the highest in the continent and in the world. These problems created a difficult atmosphere to engage business. But the progress and results that have had the launch of Colombia's trade policy in recent years make it interesting to undertake a study of its historical development.
Before 1991 Colombia had adopted a policy of import substitution, this led that products and services that people were demanding should be only supplied by the local commerce. This policy was made to protect the local industry, but instead it had the opposite effect. The lack of international competition created an economy without pressure to provide the best products and services. In the following years the government tried to put more attention on the industry, but terrorism and drug trafficking were the bigger problems. (Medina, 2013)
In 2002 Albaro Uribe won the national elections and started to implement a development plan to change industry policies. All the efforts were focused on increasing export and attracting more foreign investment. With this new plan to stimulus industry, the country’s infrastructure was modernized, state institutions were strengthened and the territory was secure enough to allow the restoration of the economy.
To foment its export and investment, Colombia started to internationalize its economy. The first step in this plan was to establish FTA’s (free trade agreements), these created the necessary conditions to increase the productivity and competiveness of the country. The investment climate was also in need of