Colombian government planners said solving the country’s transport deficit could increase national GDP by a whole percentage point, reported The Economist.
Colombia’s transport infrastructure was lamented by high-ranking industry figures. Juan Martin, president of the Colombian Infrastructure Chamber said transport infrastructure suffers from “monumental backwardness.” Luis Carlos Villegas, president of Colombia’s National Association of Entrepreneurs said the failings of the transport infrastructure are like an 10%-15% tax.
Due to the winding mountain roads haulage trucks have to travel it costs approximately 20% more to export a container from Colombia than from Argentina; the costs are $1,770 and $1,480 respectively.
Future developments include a 2.8 mile dual-carriageway bypass near Melgar, southwest of Bogota, and wider bridges- right most bridges permit one vehicle to cross at a time.
Colombia’s transport infrastructure ranked 79th of 139 countries ranked by the World Economic Forum. Investment in transport was only 1.6% for the first semester of 2011, while in the Inter American Development Bank recommends 4%.
President Santos passed a 10-year, $55 billion investment plan involving doubling the length of Colombia’s dual-carriageway roads and dredging 560 miles of the Magdalena River to make it fully navigable, which will quintuple the shipping capacity.
Transport Minister German Cardona asked for foreign investment in national infrastructure which he described as “20 years behind.” He made the request in Tokyo, Japan a country which he called one of the ” big players,” on Tuesday.