Google will open an office in Colombia to serve as a hub for new markets, the company announced on its blog Tuesday.
Laura Camacho Mackenzie, Country Manager for Google Colombia said that the web giant has spent four years laying the ground work for the development of the online industry in the Latin American nation.
Camacho Mackenzie also said that the policies of the Colombian government have created a good environment for Google to operate in. She said the government aims to double Internet coverage by 2013, 50% of Colombians have access to the Internet, and access to broadband is growing by 20% a year.
Google wants to encourage Colombian companies to use the Internet as an advertising medium; Camacho Mackenzie said that investment on advertising online is expected to go from 4% to 8% of advertising budgets.
The manager ended her post by inviting Colombia’s “active and sophisticated” internet users to join them in their expansion campaign.