© Reuters. Spanish Secretary of State sees favorable climate for investment in Colombia
Ricardo Maldonado Rozo
Cartagena (Colombia), Nov 23 (EFE).- The Secretary of State for Commerce of Spain, Xiana Méndez, sees a “propitious” climate for investment by companies from her country in Colombia and stressed that “the messages that have transferred from the Government (of President Gustavo Petro) have been very positive”.
Méndez, who is attending the XIX National Infrastructure Congress in Cartagena de Indias, said in an interview with EFE that he perceives an environment of “total trust” which allows “the arrival of (new) companies and the expansion of those that are already In colombia”.
This is the second visit that the Spanish Secretary of State has made to the country in the last 18 months, for which she highlighted the economic recovery “after that stoppage that the pandemic has brought about and also that turning point that Colombia now has a government new” in which for the first time the left is in power with President Gustavo Petro.
In his opinion, the excellent relations between the two countries guarantee “continuity with the projects that work”, and he stressed that the 5G roads “are beginning to be launched, the 4G are at 70% of their execution and will be concluded and what What we have seen is that the projects continue”.
Méndez affirmed that he sees in the Government of Colombia “a clear priority for multimodality, for rail transport, for electric mobility and sustainable mobility at the municipal level; also in ports, fluvial navigability and airports.”
“The message is powerful, it is about maintaining confidence that the investment portfolio is going to come out,” he said.
FEARS OF COMPANIES
The Secretary of State stated that although there is some fear on the part of Spanish companies in Colombia, this is not related to the change of government, “rather it is concern with some more specific issues of application of the Free Trade Agreement, in contracting public, of some issues related to symmetrical competition”.
“No concern about the change of government,” he emphasized.
During Méndez’s visit to Colombia, the Mixed Economic-Commercial Commission met for the first time, in which issues such as the application of the trade agreement, concerns regarding the business climate, investment, the green pact, the small and medium-sized companies and their participation in global value chains.
“What the Spanish company asks for is that the competition be great, that is to say that the specifications (of tenders) are drawn up in such a way that companies of any origin see the attractiveness of presenting themselves and they present themselves because in the end the beneficiary will be the Colombian citizen. The greater the competition, the greater the efficiency,” he said.
SWITCH TO RENEWABLE ENERGY
Méndez affirmed that “Spain tries to have a leading attitude regarding the promotion of renewable energy projects” both within and in partner countries “and also regarding green financing”.
“Spain intends to withdraw funding from other sectors that must clearly give space to the renewable energy sector,” he said, adding that Petro’s environmental policy, which proposes “decarbonizing the economy,” is in line “with what is is promoting from the European Union”.
He explained that it is about “withdrawing resources or the focus of what is new exploration in the hydrocarbons sector and promoting renewable energy.”
POST-PANDEMIC RECOVERY
Regarding the behavior of the economies, he reiterated that “the political economic context has changed radically” and despite the fact that the pandemic hit both Spain and Latin America hard, “we have achieved an amazing recovery on both sides, in the sense fast”.
Méndez assured that Colombia “is managing the economic situation well and putting on the table the priorities that are social, peace and the environment, the ecological transition and the social impact of infrastructure projects.”
For all these reasons, Spain’s investment in Colombia remains accumulated at the beginning of 2022 “of 26.7 billion euros,” he said.
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