The Minister of Finance and Public Credit announced Wednesday that Colombia’s economy climbed from fourth to third place in the South American rankings, according to a national radio station.
According Colombia’s Minister of Finance and Public Credit, Mauricio Cardenas, economic policies of the recent past have boosted investors’ trust in country’s burgeoning economy, generating a steady rising flow of foreign investment.
The Bank of the Republic had previously reported that 2013 marked the highest levels of foreign investment in Colombia’s history.
MORE: Colombia foreign investment hits record high in 2013
“All Colombians should be aware of the fact that we are now on the third place in Latin America in economic terms, that means Brazil is number one, Mexico number two and Colombia number three,” the minister was quoted as saying by Caracol Radio.
Cardenas suggested that the third place ranking indicates Colombia is no longer going unnoticed by international investors looking for new markets and investment opportunities.
Since 2010, Colombia’s has been included among the six most favored emerging market economies, along with Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa.
HSBC Holdings representative Michael Goeghegan defined the so-called CEVITIS group, on the basis that each of the six countries boast a diverse and dynamic economy and a young, growing population.
He and many others in the international investment and finance community see the CIVETS as the new BRIC states (Brazil, Russia, India and China) in terms of potential growth.
Comparing these rather diverse countries by key criteria like GDP per capita, Foreign Direct Investment, Adult Literacy Rat and the Political Instability Index, showed that Colombia fares rather well, even among its CIVETS siblings.
The central Andean state stands out especially in terms of economic progress, attracting foreign investment, growth in financial markets, economic integration of technology, and literacy rate with an average position of 2.83 out of 6.
MORE: Colombia and its CIVETS siblings
However, political risk continues to influence the nation’s economic future, as the outcome and implications of a possible peace deal between Colombia’s government and the country’s oldest rebel group FARC, are still hard to predict.
The government and the rebels have been negotiating in Havana, Cuba, over a year now, currently debating the problem of illicit drugs, the third of six topics on the scheduled peace agenda.
MORE: Round 19 of Colombia’s peace talks conclude, no deal on illicit drugs yet
President Juan Manuel Santos has proposed a potential peace deal as a necessary precursor to his plans to convert the country into a regional power.