Colombia tipped for growth

Colombia has been tipped for growth since 2009 when the acronym CIVETS was coined by the Global Forecasting Director, Robert Ward for the Economist Intelligence Unit. The acronym stands for Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa. These countries were singled out for attention because they have a young population, have managed to control inflation and have a relatively sophisticated banking system already in place.

This is certainly true of Columbia, and out of all these countries it has the best infrastructure already in place which will enable rapid economic growth. It has also managed to achieve consistent GDP growth for over 70 years and has never experienced hyperinflation, and in fact inflation has been kept within single digit figures since 1999. The GDP growth from 2002 to 2007 averaged out at 5% a year which was mainly due to increased foreign investment, export growth and reforms in the energy sectors. The country has large mineral and energy reserves, especially coal and natural gas.

Columbia has managed to triple its exports during the last six years which was largely due to the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act. During this time period exports grew from $13 million in 2003 to $32 million in 2009. It has successfully increased tourism numbers even at the height of the global recession. Tourism numbers throughout the world fell by 4% in 2009 while in Colombia it increased to 10.2% in the same year. The Columbian government actively encourages overseas investors as it is looking to increase business opportunities within international markets.