Colombian agency makes investment pitch in New Zealand and Australia

Bogota —  A delegation from Invest in Bogota, which promotes investment in Colombia’s capital, is meeting with investors in New Zealand and Australia, officials said Sunday.

“We want Asia and the Pacific, which have invested nearly $200 billion in Latin America in the past decade, to find in Bogota and Colombia a gateway to the region,” Invest in Bogota director Juan Gabriel Perez said.

The delegation started its tour in New Zealand, where members met with representatives of the food, medical devices and aviation industries.

Invest in Bogota representatives also met with officials from the Auckland ecomomic development agency and the Latin America New Zealand Business Council.

After winding up its trip to New Zealand, the Invest in Bogota delegation will travel to Australia to discuss investment opportunities in the Colombian capital colombiana with private sector representatives and participate in the 2019 World Forum for FDI in Sydney.

The event, which focuses on foreign direct investment (FDI), starts on Monday.

For the fifth time, Invest in Bogota will receive the prize as the best regional promotion agency in South America at the forum.

Between 2008 and 2018, according to Invest in Bogota figures, investors from Oceania pumped $13.77 billion into 109 ventures in Latin America, creating more than 28,700 jobs.

Some 20 percent of the money went into projects in the metals industry, while 17 percent was invested in corporate services and 9 percent went into software and information technology.

During this period, Bogota welcomed six Australian projects, including three from investors in Sydney, totaling $21.4 million.

Investors from Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide also pumped money into ventures in the Colombian capital.

On its way to Oceania, the Invest in Bogota delegation visited the United States and attended the Select USA Investment Summit in Washington, an event that drew 3,000 investors looking for new opportunities.

US investors are among the leading sources of capital for ventures in Bogota, funding 40 projects and creating more than 4,300 jobs in the Colombian capital in 2018 alone.

The United States is the No. 2 investor in Bogota, trailing only Spain.