Colombia’s trade minister believes foreign direct investment (FDI) will climb to above $10 billion and exports will exceed $43 billion, he told news agency Reuters Thursday.
“I believe we are going to surpass $10 billion in foreign direct investment in 2011 and that we go should beyond $43 billion in exports,” Trade Minister Sergio Diaz-Granados told Reuters. “Trade is going well with important growth in all sectors,” he added.
If exports reach $43 billion that would mean an 8% growth compared to the $39.8 billion Colombia exported last year.
This growth is due to the Andean nation’s outreach to Asia and an expansion of trade with other Latin American countries, the minister said.
Colombia’s radically changed its trade strategy under the administration of former President Alvaro Uribe when exports to its traditional markets, the U.S. and Venezuela, dropped, respectively because of the economic crisis and clashes with the Venezuelan leftist government.
To counter the drop in exports, Colombia actively pursued a diversification of its export markets and started focusing more on Asia, Central America and the Caribbean.
FDI in the first quarter this year rose 57 percent from a year ago to $2.8 billion and exports for the first three months of this year were up 12 percent from a year ago, Diaz-Granados said.