Australia Trade Minister Simon Crean will meet with the Colombia
Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism, Luis Guillermo Plata, to
discuss strengthening trade links between Australia and Colombia.
Crean said that “improved economic conditions, along with major resource reserves,
expanding foreign investment and a domestic market of over 47 million –
are helping to position Colombia as an increasingly important Latin
American economy.”
Crean praised Colombian President Álvaro Uribe’s government’s “prudent
fiscal policies and structural reforms,” which he said had led to
steady economic growth, a decline in unemployment and an increase in
business confidence.
Australia
already has major investments in Colombia’s resources sector and the Colombian Government wants further international investment in the areas of mineral and resource processing facilities, infrastructure,
agriculture, and training.
According to the International Monetary
Fund, Colombia’s GDP grew 4 per cent in 2008. It forecasts that the Colombian
economy should continue to expand in 2009, in spite of the worldwide
economic downturn.
Crean and Plata will meet Monday at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia.