CIAO DATE: 10/2011
September 2011
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) from Colombia has increased considerably in the past decade, with its stock growing from US$ 3 billion in 2000 to US$ 23 billion in 2010. This growth reflects the internationalization of the Colombian economy following policy reforms and economic liberalization in the 1990s. The 2000s were characterized by enhanced national security and reforms to the investment framework that have attracted unprecedented levels of inward FDI and facilitated the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). A considerable rise in domestic mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the past decade has contributed to the development of Colombian multinational enterprises (MNEs) and to increased OFDI from Colombia. In 2010, outflows showed a twenty-fold increase from their value in 2000, including an increase in OFDI to export markets, helped by greater government support for OFDI, for example by the conclusion of more international investment agreements. The rise of Colombian MNEs, or “translatinas” (i.e. Latin American MNEs whose OFDI is primarily within Latin America), reflects Colombia’s nascent structural transformation into a knowledge-based economy. Together with Chile and Peru, Colombia has recently created the first regionally integrated stock exchange in the region, the Mercado Integrado Latinoamericano (MILA), which is likely to facilitate FDI flows.
Resource link: Outward FDI from Colombia and its policy context [PDF] - 231K