The Government is clear that in order to make its reindustrialization a successful policy, the least it must do is generate investor confidence, legal security and institutionality.
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Without these three key elements it will be very difficult for foreign investors, with whom he has been meeting, to buy into the idea of bringing their resources so that Colombia ceases to be an importing country and becomes, after a few years, another with a clear production vocation.
In front of that great purpose is Germán Umaña, Minister of Commerce, who considers that at this moment, with the agreements that are taking place, after the tax reform and the social reforms that are coming, political and social certainty is being produced.
You who meet with foreign investors for the different projects that the Government has, do you see that there is confidence in the country?
In some yes, in others no. But we are on the growing curve of generating certainty and it is coming to the point that the changes that are taking place are important for development, but also for the generation of many opportunities for that possible country that we are building. We are on the right path of generating certainty, of course all change generates uncertainty, but we are on the right path and at that moment we are going to have a very important issue of public-private partnerships for development.
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And Colombian businessmen have that same commitment…
What I have felt is that foreign investors trust us more than national ones. I see that they are postponing their investments, but the positive thing is that none of them took their resources elsewhere, but it is a matter of making sure in that certainty that conditions are not changing as some imagined, but that we are giving the legal certainty to the institutionality. I am meeting with businessmen and many are waiting for the results of the reforms in Congress, which I think will be very positive, to resume their investments. I believe that the path from uncertainty to certainty is growing, although there is a lack of space to consolidate the process.
Do you trust that inflation can break its trend soon and help in that purpose?
This year will be very difficult for the world and for Colombia, we cannot fool ourselves, fortunately there will be no negative growth rates. Inflation control is already easing a bit, and I have to respect the independence of the central bank, which seems to replicate what the central banks of the United States and Europe do, but this rate increase is generating more of a contraction in inflation. demand, unemployment and recession, but our inflation is supply, so interest rates do not have a significant influence on supply. What we are doing is a supply strategy that hopefully goes well for us and if the supply improves, inflation must be controlled. He Bank of the Republic and their currency board continues to believe that the only solution is to keep raising rates without any responsibility.
The Government has a reindustrialization plan for the country. What are the deadlines for its execution?
As you know, we are targeting sectors that for years were wasted despite the country’s potential: energy transition, agro-industrialization and food sovereignty; health and defense sector, where the capacities of the military industry will be used for the development of infrastructure and technological services and promotion of the business fabric of the regions. In the first, the specific issue that we are already working on is mobility, where we seek that all public transport (freight and passengers) migrate to the use of the electrical system. We have come a long way with companies like General Motors, Renault, Hinoeven with the Chinese, not to import more, but to carry out joint processes, development of electrical auto parts in exchange for state incentives, but they must first demonstrate that they will make the investment, it is not an attempt to suspect an investment.
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What kind of incentives?
There are two proposals, one is to import electrical parts that are not produced in the country, without tariffs, and with tariffs, the parts that we need to produce in the country are demanded. This program called Profía has an assembly percentage for industrial promotion and another preferably to complement those who want to make the investment. The second is Llamas, where we are making agreements with foreign and national investment companies in which there is an investment amount of, for example, 100 million dollars, we will allow them to complement an annual number of tariff-free electric vehicles with imports, which They decrease according to depreciation.
What is the progress there?
On March 18, General Motors inaugurated its first investment. The president of Renault France will be in Colombia on the 16th of this month to continue talks. but also with siemens We are talking about the production of some parts of solar panels with engineering development and national production, that would be the investment relationship. Like those there are many investments that we are developing.
And the goal…
In three years we should have significant investments and I think these should be in the order of 800 million dollars a year.
What happens on the other fronts?
We are developing important projects with CAF and with other international and national entities and the Ministry of Agriculture to improve agro-industrialization, which has two components to which we are addressing: one, the peasant sectors so that they sell their already processed products and They are organizing to integrate into productive activities.
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This year we are going to install some 120 productivity centers (Zascas) with an investment of 1,200 million pesos each, to advance in the modernization of peasant processes based on agro-industrialization. These centers will receive support from Grupo Bicentenario, with which we are carrying out a 100,000 million-peso pilot, which will reach the popular economy directly.
Are you talking about taking advantage of other forgotten sectors?
Yes, for this reason, the third bet has to do with health and vaccines will be an important issue there. We are going to have laboratories to produce them and Bogotá and its first negotiation that will allow it to open its first factory with international advice, the same in medicines and in all issues that have to do with health, among which are the endowments that have been proposed in healthcare reform.
How will you incorporate the military industry into this plan?
The war industry has to become a peace industry and the defense industry a reindustrialization system. We are working very hard with the Ministry of Defense on technological disaggregation projects. solo scam Airbus We are working on five projects, one of which is unmanned drones with national auto parts, national engineering, not only for the domestic market, but for all of Latin America, given our logistics capacity. Also issues of satellite connection where they propose that they can develop certain parts for that aerospace strategy. Another front is the production of parts and pieces for aircraft, but there is also the part of the shipyards, the military industry has already built a corvette with national auto parts, with national development and I am only giving two examples.
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Where do communities and regions fit in?
90 percent of the companies in the country are small and medium-sized, which are in the territories and in the territories. We want to work with the productive bets of those, strengthening the winners who do not need much, but above all our bet is for SMEs with substantive modifications, supporting productive, competitive and comparative vocations. We will have a technological scheme, one of services, of financing, of aid to commercialization that we are going to replicate throughout the country.
The tourist program that appeared a few days ago is also part of this great approach?
We do propose a democratization, the use of our resources and with the Zascas we are going to arrive with Peace policies, with tourism programs designed for that national integration based on the Use of our natural resources. We are already proposing 13 routes this year, for example the El Libertador or the Gabo routes. We are going to rescue the cultural part, gastronomy, hiking, offering sustainable tourism, lawful, respectful of nature in which people understand the country’s biodiversity and at that point national parks are essential and we are already working on a global strategy to take advantage of those who can. I am convinced that in 8 years -not four- we can reach 15,000 million dollars in income from tourism and some 12 million views, of which 5 million must be national.
