Colombia’s industrial recession has ended, according to new figures from a National Business Association (ANDI) survey, announced the organisation’s president Luis Carlos Villegas.
The first month of the new decade saw total industry sales grow by 6.2%, while domestic market sales rose by 5.2%, compared to the same period in 2008, the Joint Industrial Opinion Survey (EOIC) revealed.
“The Colombian economy has clearly initiated the recovery process and it is now important to maintain an environment conducive to investment and growth”, said the report.
EOIC said that this growth is a continuation of the strong results recorded since July last year.
Total exports also recovered substantially, recording an increase of 15.3% from 2009 mainly due to greater oil exports.
The current restrictions on trade with Venezuela, implemented by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, have resulted in a drop of 8.7% in “non-traditional” exports.
However, non-traditional exports to countries excluding Venezuela grew by 26.1%.
The survey also demonstrated an interest in global expansion for many Colombian companies.
36% of the companies surveyed have entered new markets, including New Zealand, Australia, Vietnam, India, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.
These positive results follow the poor industrial production and sales figures for 2009 announced by ANDI last week.
Venezuela has placed restrictions on imports of Colombian products, causing Colombia’s exports to its socialist neighbor to drop 77% between January 2009 and January 2010.