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Among the business options the Pacific Alliance makes possible is an increase in the promotion of investment between the four countries and collaborations to attract projects in the Asia Pacific region.
So said PROCOLOMBIA President, Maria Claudia Lacouture, who pointed out that representatives of the most important Latin American companies, including several who feature in the Fortune 500 list, will be among the 400 executives who will attend the First Business Summit of the Pacific Alliance.
Through cooperation with the promotion agencies of Chile, Mexico and Peru, PROCOLOMBIA identified the entrepreneurs seeking foreign direct investment who will improve the current supply of those countries.
" For example, for Korea' s potential investors we have managed to implement a complementation with Peru, so that joint investment can exist between the two countries, and so that the opportunity represented by the Asian countries is not lost," stressed Maria Claudia Lacouture, PROCOLOMBIA President.
The Pacific Alliance is becoming not only the eight largest economy in the world, but also the recipient of the seventh greatest sum of FDI, with 4,286 projects and a global investment share of 3.2%. Additionally, of the total global projects identified for this trade bloc, 780 were directed toward Colombia. This means the country has the second greatest amount of projects among the four countries that form this trade bloc.
One of the factors relevant to the work that has been carried out over the last few months with the promotion agencies, is the synergy created to win over the Asian market. The countries that make up this alliance attract 2% of total Asian investment, which is equivalent to 432 investment projects.
In terms of market share within the bloc, between 2003 and 2012, the main recipient of FDI from Asia was Mexico, with 71.3% of projects. Colombia followed with 11.6%, Chile with 9%, and Peru with 8.1%.
According to fDi Markets, during the same period, the main sectors to invest in Pacific Alliance countries were software and IT services with 455 projects in the four countries, BPO with 273 projects, food and tobacco with 259, communications with 232, and coal, oil and natural gas with 163 projects.
Chile is the main source of FDI to Colombia with 68 projects, mainly in the sectors of consumer goods, financial services, and software and IT services.
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| PROCOLOMBIA President - María Claudia Lacouture |
" We also want to generate partnerships and productive ties between entrepreneurs. A company in Chile that produces cotton or raw materials for textiles can create an alliance or an investment project with a Colombian apparel manufacturer., For example, they could sell the product to Korea, since that country buys USD 6.5 million in textiles and clothing," added the PROCOLOMBIA President.
Mexico has 21 investment projects in Colombia, mainly in the sectors of communications, leisure and entertainment, and software and IT services. Peru is investing mainly in the textiles, food and tobacco, and plastics sectors in Colombia.
