The strategy of moving from the desk to the territories, and from the territory to the world is already bearing important fruits for the country.

We strengthened our relations with Colombian and international embassies in the country, which we are sure will bring greater commercial opportunities and windows of cooperation for Colombian MSMEs and territories.

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We achieved, for example, three memorandums of understanding with ProCuba, the Swiss Import Promotion Desk of Switzerland and ICE- (Italy’s International Promotion Agency).

We also made progress in perfecting memoranda of understanding with four entities: ProEcuador, Invest Minas of Brazil, JAMPRO of Jamaica and Invest Turkey of Turkey.

We consolidated alliances and projects with international organizations such as the European Union (through its AL-INVEST Verde European Program), the Expert Deployment Mechanism of Cowater Canada, and the Swiss Import Promotion Programme (Sippo) of Switzerland.

As a result of these efforts, we were able to promote commercial interactions with Italy, supporting Italian companies in identifying opportunities in Colombia as a platform for operations in Latin America, and Colombian exporters in their expansion into the European market.

In Korea, two cooperation projects will be presented to KOICA in 2023, focused on the Colombian auto parts sector and the socioeconomic development of small and medium-sized producers of avocado hass and panela.

With the Embassy of the United Kingdom, we will collaborate on sustainability and deforestation reduction initiatives in the Amazon, in addition to exploring cooperation opportunities for knowledge transfer and technical assistance for Colombian exporters of non-mining energy goods and services.

And with Switzerland we will work with the Swiss SIPPO program to strengthen the processed food, natural food ingredients, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, and sustainable tourism sectors through institutional strengthening and knowledge transfer.

There are several milestones to mention. A historical fact in terms of tourism is that as of 2024 the first luxury river cruises will navigate the Magdalena River, which will be operated by AmaWaterways, a U.S. company dedicated to this business that chose Colombia as the first market in America to launch this project, since the company only operates in Europe, Africa and Asia.

In addition to the immediate benefits that these important trips will have on the social and economic development of our territories, it is worth mentioning that AmaWaterways seeks to supply its ships with products made in Colombia. This means that we also have an opportunity to match our diversified exportable offer and make it part of the tourism production chain.

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We have already made an inspection of the municipalities where the two luxury ships will dock, which allowed us to identify their immense potential to receive travelers from all over the world who are already reserving their space for this luxury experience.

Our purpose was also to identify how ProColombia can further strengthen the offer in order to improve the revenues for the communities that will benefit from the arrival of the ships.

Another very important aspect is that we improved our presence in the markets, with the reopening of the office in Venezuela and representation in Cuba, and in the territories, with advisors in Amazonas, Chocó, Llanos Orientales, Sucre, Magdalena and San Andrés.

The figures for each of our mission areas also reflect the good momentum. We have trained more than 12,900 Colombians from 27 departments in foreign trade issues.

In addition, as a result of ProColombia’s support, 1,715 companies from 137 municipalities in 22 departments reported export business of non-mining goods and services for US$1,945 million with 3,362 buyers from 113 countries. Of these companies, 77% are MSMEs.

We also made steady progress in attracting foreign investment, as investors from 25 countries informed us of the start of 102 projects that are expected to generate more than 44 thousand direct and indirect jobs in the next two years in the country.

Of these projects, 15 will contribute to the energy transition with solar and photovoltaic plants thanks to investment from Singapore, the United States, China, France, Germany and Japan; 15 projects contribute to food sovereignty and the agro-industrialization of the country; and 5 initiatives will advance the reindustrialization of the health sector.

Tourism has also experienced significant progress. Air connectivity has been strengthened with the opening of 11 new international routes in the country. In addition, 187 events have been confirmed to be held in Colombian territory thanks to the joint work with bureaus and entrepreneurs specialized in the meetings industry.

Finally, ProColombia continues its work in business training in the tourism sector, benefiting 4,073 people from 28 departments through the Tourism Export Training Program.

In conclusion, the results obtained by ProColombia during the first half of the year reflect the country’s commitment to fair, balanced, sustainable and transformative internationalization. Colombia is increasingly positioning itself as a living power on the international scene, generating opportunities for the country’s economic and social development.

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