iconannual 2015 - The European Business and Investment Magazine

Colombia
Greetings
Dear readers!
H. E. Jaime Alberto Cabal Sanclemente
Ambassador of the Republic of Colombia to Austria,
and non-resident Ambassador to Croatia,
Czech Republic, Hungary, Montenegro, Serbia,
Slovenia and Slovakia
I
wish to congratulate iconvienna for its continuous and
effortless work to create a successful business platform
between countries and entrepreneurs, enhancing
each year its motto “make contacts to contracts”. The
European Business and Investment Forum allows executives,
companies, young leaders, SME´s and countries
representatives to share experiences and develop an entrepreneurial
network in a unique atmosphere.
Due to a successful development strategy, Colombia
is the country in the Latin America and the Caribbean
region that has made the most significant and positive
change in the past 15 years and we are proud to be a
guest country this year. We are looking forward to share
our policies regarding exports, foreign investment and
tourism, which has enabled our country to become one
of the leading economies in the region:
• Colombia is the third largest economy in Latin
America and has grew more than 4% during 2014
• Ranks 10th worldwide in investor protection and 1st
in the ease of doing business in Latin America
• Colombia has a network of Trade Agreements, among
them the Agreement with the European Union
In this sense, I will like to devote some words to this
new framework for business given by the Trade Agreement
between the European Union and Colombia and
Peru, that this coming August will mark its second anniversary
of provisional application.
This Agreement is a third generation agreement,
which, besides the more traditional trade disciplines
such as market access in goods and trade in services,
also provides for commitments on government procurement,
establishment, intellectual property, competition,
environmental and labour issues, and state-of-the-art
standards in trade facilitation and customs procedures.
Due to the Agreement commerce between Colombia and
the EU has increased in 10.21% in the last year. Moreover,
this trade agreement has created new opportunities
for our micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
Since August 2013, 283 Colombian SMEs exported to
Europe for the first time.
Among the countries that have increased commerce
we can mention Spain (+53,10%), Italy (+78,72%), Germany
(+17,79%), Finland (+16,84%) and Poland (+17,15%).
We are looking forward to increase our commerce
with Austria and its neighbouring countries and in
this aim, iconvienna is a perfect scenario to achieve
our goals.
Foto: Foto: Embassy of of Colombia
The European Business and Investment Magazine iconannual 43