The pending of the Colombian economy in 2023 - Sectors

Within the framework of the forum ‘The State of the Nation, the Challenges of Colombia in Times of Change, organized by EL TIEMPO, the Universidad del Rosario and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Julián Domínguez the President of Confecámaras, Bruce Mac Master, President of ANDI, María Claudia Lacouture, executive director of Amcham-Aliadas, and Sandra Forero Ramírez, former president of Camacol, spoke about the country’s economic challenges with Miguel Gómez, dean of the Faculty of Economics at the Universidad del Rosario.

According to the president of the industrialists, Bruce Mac Master, there is pessimism about the growth of the Colombian economy this year, since it is expected that the growth of the Colombian economy this 2023 would be 0.2 percent.

«Our projections move us between 0.5 and in the best of cases 1.0 percent, but the manager of the Banco de la República has said that it would be 0.2 percent. The objective of the monetary policy on the growth of the economy had as mission to stop the dynamics that converged; such as the policies of the different central banks, international markets, inflation and also the conversation between China and the United StatesMacMaster said.

According to the industry leader, in the case of nearshoring, it is not true that the United States has left Asia, but rather that commercial dynamics have changed and that is where Colombia has opportunities.

For this, he called for the adoption of a «confidence agenda» to stop the downward trend of the economy. “Some public officials rather want to generate uncertainty, doubts, concerns and this, in my opinion, is not a way to make changes, because it is too expensive,” he said.

Regarding the local climate of the sectors, Julián Domínguez, the President of Confecámaras, explained that the great challenge is to improve the growth of companies. «We must facilitate the survival, growth and change of firms in the country, so that they go from being small to medium and large. We must ensure that companies mobilize, that uncertainties are cleared up and it is known where public policy should focus» , added.

In her turn, the former president of the Chamber of Construction, Sandra Forero, explained that construction inputs in January have doubled their value, that sales fell by 50 percent, project launches were reduced by 45 percent one hundred percent, and the initiation of work by 21 percent and this has made the construction of housing is in ‘the doldrums’.

The president of AmCham Colombia, María Claudia Lacouture, highlighted the importance of maintaining programs such as the Productivity Factories to boost Colombia’s productivity and competitiveness. She also spoke of the need for joint and coordinated work between the public and private sectors to take advantage of the opportunities that the country has to attract more investment and increase exports, for which joint actions and coordination between both sectors are required.

“Colombia is a country of microentrepreneurs, It cannot be asked to have the export level of developed countries, but even so, our country has made progress in its export process. Colombia has not been left behind, today we are seeing a growth in exports that is not only due to the exchange rate, but also due to volumes, and we are seeing it in products that have increased by more than 200 or 300 percent in recent years. ”, he added.

The Government has been adopting some measures to alleviate the cost of food production.

Photo:

Santiago Saldarriaga. WEATHER Archive

Investment projects in the country have been reduced

According to Andi, investments in the country have been reduced compared to August of last year, when the last measurement was made.

Specifically, in August 2022, 47.1 percent of those surveyed had stated that the investments were being maintained, while the latest data collected this week only 27.5 percent indicated the same.

In August, 16.9 percent of businessmen had adjusted the amount of the
investment, currently that adjustment percentage increased significantly to 34.9 percent, evidencing the moment of high uncertainty that the country is experiencing.

“One of the fundamental conditions to guarantee the future growth of the country’s economy is productive investment. For this reason, it is so important to be attentive to these signs and take targeted actions to counteract the effects of a low growth scenario,” said Mac Master.

According to a study carried out by AmCham Colombia, it found that Colombia has an opportunity in 108 products with revealed comparative advantage, of which 27 are growing as those same products sold from China to the United States decrease.

«This does not mean that Colombia is the only one that is providing these products, but indeed we did find some spaces where we are covering those opportunities,» Lacouture pointed out.