Bogota, Colombia

Two recent global reports have highlighted Colombia for its strong business climate and impressive economic improvements, which have made the country increasingly attractive to local entrepreneurs and foreign business and leisure travelers. The World Bank Group and the World Economic Forum both recognize Colombia as being a leader in Latin America.

The World Bank Group’s report, Doing Business 2015: Going Beyond Efficiency, ranked Colombia as the number one country in the Latin American and Caribbean regions for ease of doing business. The report highlights Colombia’s recent successes in the area of regulatory reforms, with 29 business friendly reforms implemented in the region since 2005.

Additionally, Colombia rose three places in the World Economic Forum’s 2014-2015 Global Competitiveness Index, an annual ranking of countries’ productivity levels based upon 12 pillars. Colombia’s ranking was boosted by advances in technological adoption and infrastructure development.The Index also ranks Colombia sixth globally for “strength of investor protection,” topping all other Latin American countries by a wide margin.

Earlier in 2014, Colombia launched the “Colombia Bring IT On” campaign, a major initiative aimed at promoting the growth of the country’s technology sector in the international market and raising awareness around Colombia’s competitive advantages in the industry. Colombia’s IT sector is now the third largest in Latin America, with 33 percent growth over the past five years. In 2013, total sales for the software and IT sector in Colombia exceeded US$3 billion and it is expected that this figure will double by 2018.

Colombia Best in Latin America

Colombia has been ranked as the best country to do business in Latin America in the 2015 Doing Business report issued by the World Bank in October.  Colombia ranked 34 on a list of 198 economies around the world, nine places higher than last year’s ranking. Last year Colombia ranked third in Latin American countries.

The top five countries in Latin America this year are:

1. Colombia
2. Peru
3. Mexico
4. Chile
5. Panama

This year Colombia outperformed Chile, Peru, Mexico, Brazil and Panama. Positive legislative changes made in the country in the areas of taxes, credit and property regulation helped Colombia to improve its ranking in the region.