Open for business
THE LIBERALIZATION OF THE MARKETS IS A KEY ELEMENT IN THE DRIVE TO INCREASE FOREIGN TRADE. BOGOTA IS ALSO EAGER TO GET U.S. CONGRESS APPROVAL OF THE ANDEAN TRADE PREFERENCES ACT

Martha Lucia Ramirez de Rincón Minister of Foreign Trade

Colombia’s Foreign Trade Ministry has embarked on a do-or-die crusade to push through market liberalization programs that are aimed at removing the last remaining stumbling blocks to fluid trade. The ministry’s 1999-2009 Strategic Exporter Plan is a key, voluminous guideline that Foreign Trade Minister Martha Lucia Ramirez de Rincon sums up in a few simple words, “Colombia is open for business”.
The United States has been and will remain Colombia’s major trading partner and the Andean nation is a key link to the hemisphere-wide Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA) that is tentatively scheduled to take place in 2005 and will create the world’s largest free trade area.

But the long road to FTAA is not without its bumps, which is why every effort should be made to smooth it. A huge step towards that aim should start with U.S. congressional approval this year of the Andean Trade Preferences Act. “Renewal of a robust ATPA is perhaps the most important contribution that we can make to economic growth and prosperity in the Andes,” said Alan Larson, Under secretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs in August 3 testimony before a Senate Finance subcommittee. He added that a new ATPA through December 2005 would be a “temporary bridge” until the FTAA could be implemented at that time.
Colombia’s National Association of Industrialists (ANDI), which has more than 650 companies among its members, couldn’t agree more, and is hopeful that the U.S. congress will agree to include more Andean products in the decade-old trade preference arrangement.

As president of ANDI, Luis C. Villegas’ job is to defend the sectors under his wing, like clothing manufacturers and the textile industry that are currently excluded from the trade preference scheme.
“We want these industries to be included in the same way that they receive special treatment to enter the U.S. market from Central America,” Mr. Villegas says. “If not, it’ll be more than textiles we lose, we will also lose some 200,000 jobs. And Colombia would then have to seek more direct aid from the United States.”
With or without ATPA, Mr. Villegas says he is confident that Colombia’s strong industrial sector offers many possibilities for investors. High on his list are the opportunities for international companies in the tourism, infrastructure and agriculture industries.

Javier Díaz-Molina President of Analdex

Another important trade avenue is Colombia’s National Association of Foreign Trade (Analdex), which has been promoting import and export companies long before programs like the ATPA were even conceived. According to Analdex president Javier Diaz-Molina, even though there are more than 5,000 exporters in the country, 75% of all Colombian exports are carried out by approximately 100 companies. “Our aim is to diversify the type of products destined for export and to include more and more companies in the activity of foreign trade, in particular exporting,” Mr. Diaz-Molina explains. “We have been working with the government on different programs to include small and mid-sized industries in export activities, and so far we are on the right track.”