Santos holds consultation with business leaders

Business leaders have met with President Juan Manuel Santos to express their concerns over a number of economic issues, Caracol Radio reported Wednesday.

In a three hour long meeting at the Presidential Palace, topics such as the recent truckers strike, the National Development Plan, the minimum wage increase and the pending free trade agreement with the U.S. were all discussed.

In attendance were the heads of the National Association of Exporters (Analdex), the National Business Association of Colombia (ANDI) and the Rancher’s Federation (Fedegan).

Though no concrete agreements were reached on specific issues, both the presidents of Fedegan and Analdex praised the success of the meeting, stating that any differences between the unions and the government had been overcome.

The most prominent of these was the perception that Vice President Angelino Garzon has been interfering in business matters, particularly the truckers strike, of his own volition.

However, President Santos assured the business leaders that the vice president had his full support and was acting on the president’s commands.

Entrepreneurs and the president agreed to meet every three months in the future in order to assess any new issues that may arise as Colombia’s economy continues to grow.

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