45% of foreign investment to Colombia in 2020 came from North America, says ProColombia

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – ProColombia revealed that, of the 197 foreign investment projects facilitated during 2020 in Colombia, 63 came from North America, making that the region that led the number of initiatives and businesses, followed by Europe with 48, Asia with 44, and Latin America and the Caribbean with 42, for a total of US$ 9.077 billion

Forty-five percent of this investment came from North America, i.e. the United States, Canada, and Mexico; it was supported by ProColombia, and represents business for US$ 4.097 billion, as well as projections for the creation of more than 11,700 new jobs.

In the breakdown, the United States contributed 44 projects, followed by Mexico with 10 and Canada with nine.

“In a year as important as 2020, we worked with greater commitment and conviction to captivate the interest of investors, to position Colombia as the destination for investment in Latin America. With our Red Carpet and nearshoring strategies we continue to drive the growth of FDI for the benefit of Colombians, with technology transfer, skilled jobs, and new opportunities for the internationalization of our talent, products, and services,” said ProColombia’s president, Flavia Santoro.

The new North American projects came to Antioquia, Atlántico, Cundinamarca, La Guajira, Magdalena, Meta, Nariño, Quindío, Valle del Cauca and Bogotá. They targeted productive sectors such as agribusiness, service outsourcing, BPO, and shared services centers, renewable energies, pharmaceuticals, software and IT, metal mechanics, infrastructure, tourism, construction materials, telecommunications, textiles, and apparel, among others.

Foreign investment in Colombia in January

The Banco de la República reported that foreign direct investment in Colombia during the first month of 2021 was US$ 592.9 million, which represented a 54.3% decrease compared to the same month of 2020 when it was  US$1.3 billion.

In net terms, the drop in foreign investment was US$ 707.1 million that did not enter Colombia in January 2021 due to the impact caused by the coronavirus pandemic, as several isolation measures were re-imposed during this period.

This year’s January foreign investment figure is even lower than that of January 2019, when it stood at US$ 769.4 million.

It is worth mentioning that the pandemic caused foreign investment to end 2020 at US$ 6,788 million, a figure 35.13 % lower than that recorded in 2019 when it was US$ 10.46 billion.

Investment in mining and oil

Despite the increase in oil prices seen at the beginning of 2021, foreign investment in this type of fuel continued to fall in January.

According to information from the Bank of the Republic, foreign investment in this item was US$ 442.5 million, which represented a decrease of 25.27 % compared to the same month in 2020, when investment in oil was US$ 592.2 million.

The optimism of international investors has boosted oil prices, both Brent and WTI, which have reached values seen before the pandemic. In fact, Brent (which is the one used by Colombia for its fiscal accounts) is trading above US$ 62 per barrel, while WTI is close to US$ 60 per barrel.

Such was the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on oil prices in 2020 that they reached minimums during the first half of the year. Due to the above, foreign investment in mining, oil, and hydrocarbons fell by 42.79 % last year and stood at US$ 3.92 billion.

Investment in other sectors

The Colombian Issuer revealed that one of the areas in which foreign investment in Colombia fell the most during January of this year was in other sectors (such as agriculture) since it dropped from US$ 707.8 million in 2020 to US$ 150.4 million (-78.75 %).

This decrease in investment was due to the impact on confidence generated by the new isolation measures implemented in different cities such as Bogotá, Medellin, and Cali, as well as the increase in cases of covid-19 infection seen during the first weeks of the year.

Source: Semana

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