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Two very trustworthy Japanese analysts sent a message to their country' s entrepreneurs to set their sights on Colombia, as a destination to invest thanks to the outstanding performance of its economy and the opportunities it offers for the arrival of foreign capital.
Hideaki Yamashita, the new representative of the Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi - UFJ in Colombia, and Naoki Tanaka, President of the Center for International Public Policy Studies (CIPPS), were the two analysts who shared their points of view with the most important Japanese media.
The former, Yamashita, was interviewed on the television show Morning Satellite, one of the shows with the most coverage in Japan, and highlighted the progress of the national economy, which he has witnessed since he set out to his mission in Bogotá last January.
" To begin with, the image of Colombia has improved considerably. In the past, we heard about foreign companies that left the country for security reasons, but lately the number of foreign companies has grown greatly," assured Yamashita, while the images broadcast on the news telecast highlighted Colombia' s excellent geographical location.
Yamashita also highlighted the economic growth of the country during the past years, which vouches for the variation in number of investors who are establishing their offices in Colombia. " In 2009, when the world was suffering the consequences of a new crisis, Colombia showed positive growth of 1.5%, while last year' s growth results are expected around 5.5%" .
The Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi - UFJ representative in Colombia said that although sectors like mining and energy are important influencers in the economy, there are others of utmost importance. " In Japan it is a tradition to give carnations on Mother' s Day, and 70% of those come from Colombia, which the Japanese do not know. We are in close contact with the Colombian people, not knowing that it is a nation with broad development potential and that it has a lot to offer out country' s investors," he said.
Important opening to the Pacific
On the other hand, Naoki Tanaka, considered one of the most influential and respected financial analysts in Japan, encouraged his co-national entrepreneurs to " pay special attention to Colombia," in a message published on the web page of the organization he chairs, which groups the most important Japanese companies.
Tamika is the President of the Center for International Public Policy Studies (CIPPS), an organization which is dedicated to investigating economic and financial issues in the world arena. The analyst visited Bogota recently, where he developed a high-level agenda with public and private entities, organized by PROCOLOMBIA Colombia.
At the end of his trip, he very positively highlighted the fact that Colombia " now begins to show the will to open its market towards the Pacific Basin," which he considers a key factor for the country to become a benchmark in Latin America for Japan.
" In this country, formerly called " Gran Colombia," its people have the heavily ingrained thought that it is important to have the necessary discipline to work broadly in a diversity of fields. Hence, different from other countries in Latin America, Colombia shows outstanding experience in terms of maintaining tax discipline," Tanaka added.
The analyst said that another reason why he considered Colombia would be a key player in Latin America is that Colombia actually thinks about its ranking, compared to Brazil, which came as a surprise to me," said the economist, who also visited Sao Paulo Paulo and then Mexico City.
Tanaka also concluded his visit to our country by calling upon the most important Japanese entrepreneurs to take advantage of Colombia' s will to open its gates to the Pacific markets, and to learn about the benefits and incentives offered here for investment.
