Bogotá, August,
2022 CONTENT1.Guest Columnist 2. Good News from Colombia 3. BCC News and Upcoming Events 4. Economic Developments 4.1. Gross Domestic Product 4.2. Inflation 4.3. Labor Market 4.4. Business Dynamics 5. Evolution of Foreign Trade 6. Foreign Direct Investment 7. Sources
Newsletter #13 International Allies
1. Guest Columnist
But my visit to Colombia had a particular objective. Since assuming the leadership of the WCF on July 1 of this year, Mr. Nicolás Uribe, Chair of the Federation, defined providing tools for SMEs in four main transversal axes: digitization, sustainability, access to international markets, and empowerment of women, as our top priority. Within the framework of this last axis, our Chair has commissioned me to lead the WCF's strategy to support all female entrepreneurs worldwide and guarantee greater participation of women in leadership positions within our community. In this sense, the objective of my visit was to present this strategy and develop spaces that allowed us to provide practical tools to support women led businesses.
As world president of Women Business Leaders (Femmes Chefs d'Entreprises FCEM), an international association that has brought together more than five million women entrepreneurs from more than 120 countries around the world since 1945, I have worked for the internationalization of small businesses led by women. For this reason, I am committed to contributing on this front, providing various countries with real solutions to create a much more inclusive and friendly business world for all women. We began this work in Bogotá by holding a world class event in which 240 businesswomen participated. In this event, we demonstrated that companies designed to meet the needs of women or created by women are good business and reduce gender gaps. In addition, we presented success stories and provided tools that allowed attendees to develop actions in their daily operations to improve the participation of women in business.
Between August 5 and 8, I had the pleasure of visiting Bogotá for the first time. Despite the short visit, my time in the capital of Colombia was enough to account for its great diversity, beautiful landscapes, and, above all, the warmth of its citizens. My visit also allowed me to learn about the resilience and sense of innovation of Bogota´s business community, as well as the strength of its national institutions, which have focused on providing stability and sustained growth, thus consolidating Colombia as one of the most vibrant and developed countries in Latin America.
Marie Christine Oghly World President of Femmes Chefs d'Entreprises (FCEM) and Deputy Chair of the World Chambers Federation (WCF)
At the WCF, we will continue to consolidate women as protagonists in the development of our business sector. We will work to create more and better economic opportunities, identify successful women entrepreneurship programs from international institutions and different chambers of commerce to expand them throughout the world, and promote relevant information on the benefits that greater participation of women in business has for our society.
• Chile endorsed imports of Colombian Hass avocado. After nearly eight years of joint work between the health authorities and Colombian producers, on August 6 the Chilean government gave the go ahead for the Colombian Hass avocado to enter this market. For more information, please visit the following link
• Colombia was named as the best country in Latin America to start a business. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), the country has the best conditions and business environment in Latin America to create new companies. Among the advantages highlighted by the report were the "Avanza" platform of the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce, which helps entrepreneurs make an initial evaluation of their business idea, and the Single Business Window (VUE). For more information, please visit the following link
• President Gustavo Petro took office on August 7. During the first 30 days of his tenure, he has introduced a new tax reform that aims to collect COP $25 billion through higher taxes for high income individuals, taxes on sugar and ultra processed foods and on the extractive industry, among others. He also took the first step towards reestablishing commercial and diplomatic relations with Venezuela. For more information, please visit the following link
• Within the framework of the Spain Colombia Business Meeting that took place on August 24 at the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce, which had the special participation of the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism of Colombia, Germán Umaña Mendoza, and his Spanish counterpart María Reyes Maroto, came together to define a bilateral work agenda focused on five topics: (i) attracting foreign investment that facilitates the transition towards renewable energies, (ii) reviewing the trade agenda and the results of the Commercial Association Agreement between the two countries, (iii) implementing a sustainable development model that consolidates peace, reduces regional inequalities, and develops green tourism, (iv) promoting economic, commercial and technological cooperation for a productive and institutional transformation that faces the challenges derived from the European Green Deal, and (v) promoting fair competition, avoiding possible abuses of dominant market position. For more information, please visit the following link.
Good News from Colombia
• During the XXII Presidential Council of the Andean Community of Nations (CAN), which took place on August 29, President Gustavo Petro called for Venezuela and Chile, two founding countries, to be reintegrated. Additionally, the president called for Argentina to be brought closer to the Community and urged all member states to decarbonize their economies through reindustrialization processes and to protect the Amazon. For more information, please visit the following link
2. Good News from Colombia
• The Mazzanti Gensler Consortium won the architectural design contest for the Science, Technology and Innovation District of the Bogotá Region, a project led by the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce, Corferias and the Bogotá Mayor's Office. The project will have a construction process of 24 months as of obtaining necessary licenses. It is expected to start operating in 2025. For more information, please visit the following link
3. BCC News and Upcoming Events
• New companies based in Bogotá raised USD 1.087 billion in the first half of 2022. Capital flows to Bogotá ventures continue to rise and equaled the levels recorded prior to the start of the pandemic. This according to figures from the investment promotion agency, Invest in Bogota. For more information, please visit the following link
• Streamline, a leading company in the global video game development and metaverse industry, announced it is opening an office in Bogotá, its first in Latin America. The company will contribute towards the development of this industry in our country, bringing job opportunities, advances in gaming technologies, Web3 and the Metaverse, creating an authentic game development environment in the region. For more information, please visit the following link.
• The Business Rhythm Survey, which surveys 25 Chambers of Commerce around the country, showed that around 32% of companies in Bogotá registered an increase in their sales, while the national total was 29%. For more information, please visit the following link.
Good News from Bogotá
• Colombia shined at the World Travel Awards, the most important tourism awards in the world, receiving awards in 14 of the main categories for South America. Among these, Bogotá was recognized as a “Leading Business Destination”. For more information, please visit the following link
• In partnership with the Embassy of Spain in Colombia, the CEOE, and ICEX, the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce organized the Spain Colombia Business Meeting. This event, which had the special participation of the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, brought together more than 900 businessmen and women from both countries to strengthen commercial and investment ties, and learn about the efforts made by the Spanish Government within the framework of the European Union Green Deal. For more information, please visit the following link.
• As part of our work at the head of the World Chambers Federation (WCF), we organized a visit to the city of Bogotá for the Federation´s Vice President, Marie Christine Oghly. During her visit, together with Nicolás Uribe, executive president of the BCC and president of the WCF, she launched a strategy for the empowerment of women in business, which will be led by Mrs. Oghly. In addition, the forum "Entrepreneurship for Women, a business that multiplies in value" was held, in which the importance of women entrepreneurs was highlighted
• From September 1 to 18, Corferias will host the Home Fair. Visitors to this traditional fair organized by the BCC will find the best local offers from micro businesses in jewelry, gastronomy, handicrafts, health, beauty and fashion, among others, which expect to achieve sales of more than COP $1,500 million. The more than 200 entrepreneurs who are part of the virtual commercial showcase of the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce, BazzarBog, will participate in person in this fair. For more information, please visit the following link.
• On August 23, the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce received a delegation of businessmen from Puerto Rico, led by Manuel Cidre Miranda, Secretary of the Department of Economic Development and Commerce of Puerto Rico. Within the framework of said visit, the BCC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce, chaired by Cameron McKenzie. For more information, please visit the following link.
and practical tools were provided for women entrepreneurs who attended. For more information, please visit the following link.
• Within the framework of the Home Fair, the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce and its executive president, Nicolás Uribe Rueda, are pleased to invite you to a guided tour for special guests through the 'Entrepreneurship Pavilion' of Bazzarbog, installed during the XXXIX version of the Fair. This tour will take place on September 15 at 2:00 p.m. in Corferias. In case you wish to attend, please express your interest by email to maria.conde@ccb.org.co and juan.romero@ccb.org.co
4.
The National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), published the results of the country's Gross Domestic Product for the second quarter of 2022. Colombia's GDP grew 12.6% during that period, which means a growth of 4.0 percentage points above the first quarter, in which the country´s GDP grew by 8.6%. On the other hand, the two year growth for the first quarter of 2022 in the country was 33.3% and the three year growth of the country's GPD was 11.2% for the second quarter of 2022
Graph 1. Annual growth rate, by quarter, of GDP between 2019 and 2022, Colombia and Bogotá *
1
Economic Developments
I II III IV I II III IV I II III IV I II 2019 2020p 2021pr 2022 Colombia
Regarding total GDP, this was 239.2 billion pesos, which is higher than what was observed in the same period of previous years. Annual GDP growth of 12.6%, two year growth of 33.3% and three year growth of 11.3% show a consolidation of the country's economic recovery in the second quarter of 2022 Source: DANE, National accounts. Published on August 16, 2022 3,5% 3,0% 3,2% 3,0% 0,8% 16,6% 8,8% 3,6% 0,9% 18,3% 13,7% 10,8% 8,6% 12,6% 2,3% 3,8% 3,7% 3,9% 1,2% 15,5% -7,7% -3,6% 0,8% 17,7% 12,9% 11,6% 11,5% Bogotá
4.1Gross Domestic Product (GPD)1
Source: DANE. Directorate of Synthesis and National Accounts. Constant prices. DANE has not yet published information for the second quarter of 2022 for Bogotá
Monthly variation Year to date variation Annual variation Colombia Bogotá Colombia Bogotá Colombia Bogotá
Source:DANE ConsumerPriceIndex(CPI)
variation was 0,81% and 0,61% in Bogotá for July 2022. These figures, combined with that of the previous six months, brought the country's average inflation for the first seven months of the year to 7,96%; in Bogotá, inflation was 7,46%.
NationalInflationprice
Table 1. Monthly and year to date inflation in Colombia and Bogotá for July 2022
Period
July 2022 0,81% 0,61% 7,96% 7,46% 10,21% 9,21%
July 2021 0,32% 0,32% 3,47% 2,95% 3,97% 3,40%
For context, the Central Bank´s projections showed a closing inflation rate of 7.1% for 2022. This means that during the first seven months of the year the total projection expected by the issuer for the entire year has already been met.
4.2
Illustration 1. Number of unemployed persons and unemployment rate in Colombia for June 2021 and June 2022 (thousands of people)
4.3 Labor Market 2
Taking this into account, the DANE only published employment information for the year 2021 and the first semester of 2022. The unemployment rate in Colombia for June 2022 was 11.3%, while that of the same month for 2021 was 14.6%, which is a decrease of 3.3 percentage points.
Source: Great Integrated Household Survey GEIH (DANE), June 2022. Published July 29, 2022
The information available for the analysis of the labor market in Bogotá allows us to observe that, for the month of June 2022, the unemployment rate stood at 12.6%, this represents a decrease of 5.7 percentage points compared to the same period of 2021 when the unemployment rate stood at 18.3%. The number of employed persons in the city increased by 222,000 between June 2021 and the same month of 2022, from 3.53 million to 3.75 million. This caused unemployment in the capital to decrease by 246,000, from 788,000 in June 2021 to 542,000 in June 2022.
On the other hand, employed persons in the country increased by 1.95 million between June 2021 and June 2022, from 20.07 million in 2021 to 22.02 million in 2022. This caused unemployment in the country to decrease between June 2021 and the same month of 2022 by 649,000, from 3.445 million in May 2021 to 2.795 million in May 2022.
The gap in the unemployment rate by gender for the country remains high. In June 2022, the gap was 4.9 percentage points, given that men had an unemployment rate of 9.2%. for this month and women registered an unemployment rate of 14.1%. However, this gap was reduced when compared to June 2021, where a gap of 5.7
Illustration 1 explains the composition and dynamics of the country's labor market in June 2022.
2 Source: DANE, Great Integrated Household Survey (GEIH). Taken from: https://www.dane.gov.co/index.php/estadisticas por tema/mercado laboral/empleo y desempleo
Based on the above, business dynamics consolidated 432,543 active companies in the January July 2022 period. In addition, it is important to highlight that there is only a difference of 1% between the level observed in the same period of 2019, when there were 438,507 companies in the jurisdiction, which indicates that 5,964 companies still need to be recovered to restore the business community existing in 2019
Table 2. Evolution of active companies between 2019 and 2022 for the January July period by jurisdiction Municipality Jan(2019)Jul Jan(2020)Jul Jan(2021)Jul Jan(2022)Jul 2019Variation2022 2020Variation2022 2021Variation2022 Bogotá D.C. 381,793 318,851 346,774 370,635 3% 16% 7% 59 municipalities 56,714 51,025 56,797 61,908 9% 21% 9% Total BCC jurisdiction 438,507 369,876 403,571 432,543 1% 17% 7% Source: Commercial Registry, BCC, 2019 2020 2021 2022. The Commercial Registry was consulted on August 1, 2022 Qlik Sense.
percentage points was recorded. Also, the number of employed persons increased by 863,000 for men and by 1.09 million for women
4.4 Business Dynamics
During the January July 2022 period, 57,630 companies were created in Bogotá and the 59 municipalities in its jurisdiction. New companies increased by 10% compared to the same period in 2021, 35% compared to the same period in 2020 and decreased by 5% compared to 2019. Of the total number of registered new companies, 71.9% correspond to natural persons and 28.1% to legal persons. On the other hand, registration of natural persons increased from 35,461 in January July 2021 to 41,416 in the same period of 2022, which represents a positive variation of 17%. By sectors, the highest growth is seen in the services and industry sectors, which had an increase of 16% in new companies during this period.
Bogotá and Cundinamarca continued with a stable recovery process in their number of active companies, with 432,543 active companies for the January July 2022 period. Likewise, 370,635 active companies were registered in Bogotá, accounting for 85.7% of the total of active companies in the region. The number of active companies increased by 7% compared to 2021.
Dynamic of exports from Bogotá Cundinamarca: Exports originating from Bogotá increased from US$ 1.4 billion FOB in January June 2021 to US$ 2.1 billion FOB in January June 2022; this represents a growth of 42.6%. On the other hand, exports from Bogotá grew by 69.8% compared to the same period in 2019, from US$ 1.2 billion FOB in 2019 to US$ 2.01 billion in 2022, this represents an increase of US$ 856 million in exports from Bogota.
exports January June 2019 2022
Dynamic: of Colombian exports: During January June 2022, Colombia's external sales, including oil and its derivatives, totaled US$28.6 billion FOB, which represents an increase of US$10.4 billion compared to the same period in 2021, which is an increase of 57.4%. Export levels surpassed the same period in 2019, standing at US$ 8.3 billion FOB above, an increase of Graph41.1%.2.Colombian
3 Source: DANE, Exports. June 2022. Taken from: https://www.dane.gov.co/index.php/estadisticas por tema/comercio internacional/exportaciones 20.302 15.17718.189 28.638 Ene-jun 2019 Ene-jun 2020 Ene-jun 2021 Ene-jun 2022 FOBdollarsofBillions Total Exportaciones Colombia
3
Cundinamarca saw an increase of 54.0% in exports from January June 2022 compared to the same period in 2021, from US$942 million FOB in 2021 to US$1.4 billion FOB in 2022. Like Bogotá, Cundinamarca surpassed pre pandemic period export levels, as January June 2019 exports totaled US$1.07 billion FOB.
5. Evolution of Foreign Trade Exports
Graph 3. Exports from the Bogotá Cundinamarca region (without oil and derivatives) January June 2019 2022
For January June 2022, Bogotá was the second largest exporting department in the country with 11.3% of the country's total exports and is surpassed only by Antioquia, with 18.7% of total exports. Cundinamarca is the fifth largest exporting department in Colombia, with 7.9% of the country's total. This makes Bogotá Cundinamarca the largest exporting region in the country, representing 19.2% of the country's total exports.
Source: DANE EXPO
Bogotá Cundinamarca
On the other hand, during the January June 2022 period, compared to the same period in 2021, imports of manufactured goods increased 38.4%, agricultural, food and beverage imports increased 37.4%, and fuels and extractive industry products increased 118.00%. In addition, Bogotá increased external purchases of goods by 49.8% between January June 2022 and the same period in 2021. Cundinamarca registered an increase of 42.3% in external purchases between January June 2022 and the same period in 2021.
https://dane.gov.co/index.php/estadisticas por tema/comercio internacional/importaciones 1.0511.2261.460 2.082 1.078 858942 1.451 Ene-jun 2019 Ene-jun 2020 Ene-jun 2021 Ene-jun 2022 FOBdollarsofBillions
4 Source: DANE, International import trade. August 2022. Taken from:
Colombian imports: Imports of goods increased 44.5% when comparing January June 2022 with the same period in 2021. Colombia bought goods worth US$38.5 billion. Compared to January June 2019, Colombian imports increased 48.9%.
Imports4
Dynamic:of
Source:BancodelaRepúblicaExchangeBalancefromtheMinistryofCommerce,IndustryandTourism.July2022
Additionally, foreign portfolio investment for the Jan July 2022 period totaled US $1,7 billion, an increase of 41.1%. Finally, Colombia's direct investment abroad, for the January July 2022 period, was negative by US $439 million.
According to the Colombian Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) stood at US$6.9 billion for the Jan July 2022 period. This means an increase of 73% compared to the same period (January July) in Investment2021.in
mining energy sectors stood at US $4.9 billion as of July 2022, which represents an increase of 84.2% compared to the same period in 2021. FDI in non mining energy sectors totaled US $1.9 billion for the same period, which represents an increase of 49.8% compared to the same period in 2021.
Graph 4. Foreign Direct Investment. January July (2014 2022) Period
6. Foreign Direct Investment
Dynamic of imports in the Bogotá Cundinamarca region: For imports of goods during the January June 2022 period, the Bogotá Cundinamarca region has the largest share with 57.5%. Bogotá imported goods worth US$18.8 billion during the January June 2022 period, which is 49.8% of total imports. Cundinamarca imported goods worth US$3.3 billion, representing 8.7% of Colombian imports registered during the January June 2022 period
• Bogota Economic Development Observatory. Taken from: https://observatorio.desarrolloeconomico.gov.co/expectativas/indicedeconfianzaindustrialvuelveterrenopositivo
7. Sources
• desempleoDANE.LaborMarket.Takenfrom:https://www.dane.gov.co/index.php/estadisticasportema/mercadolaboral/empleoy
• Commercial Registry, BCC, 2019 2020 2021 2022. Taken from: https://www.ccb.org.co/Inscripcionesy renovaciones/MatriculaMercantil/BoletinesdelRegistroMercantil/Boletinesano2021
• DANE, International trade imports, August 2022. Taken from: https://www.dane.gov.co/index.php/estadisticaspor tema/comerciointernacional/importaciones
• Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism. Foreign Direct Investment Reports. Taken from: https://www.mincit.gov.co/estudioseconomicos/estadisticaseinformes/informesdeinversionextranjera
• DANE.SocialPulseSurvey.Takenfrom:https://www.dane.gov.co/index.php/estadisticasportema/encuestapulsosocial
• DANE. Business Pulse Survey. Taken from: https://www.dane.gov.co/index.php/estadisticasportema/comercio interno/encuestapulsoempresarial
• DANE. National Accounts. Taken from: https://www.dane.gov.co/index.php/estadisticasportema/cuentas nacionales/cuentasnacionalestrimestrales
• Formoreinformation,pleasevisittheBogotaChamberofCommerceObservatory https://www.ccb.org.co/observatorio
• DANE, Exports. May 2022. Taken from: https://www.dane.gov.co/index.php/estadisticasportema/comercio internacional/exportaciones