The forecasts of lower growth this year in the country and the political and economic uncertainty generated by the cascade of reforms that the Government has proposed, such as labor, pension and health, have not discouraged foreign companies from continuing to invest in the country.
Proof of this is that during the first quarter of the year, resources of US$2,852 million arrived in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), which represents an increase of 25.3% compared to the same period last year, when the figure amounted to $2,276 million.
According to the figures of the Exchange Balance of the Banco de la República, in the third month of the year registered FDI was US$878 million, 26% higher than the same month last year and is the highest registered for the period of March since 2015.
In any case, although there are some annual growth figures, the data for the month of March marked a slight drop compared to the first two months of this year, since in January the FDI figure was US$1,048 million while for February it was of US$926 million.
Analyzing the disaggregated figures presented by the Banco de la República, it can be seen that the third month is the lowest in terms of FDI since October 2022 when US$1,024 million was recorded.
the furniture
Proof of this interest in investing in the country, is the one that stands out with the program of the furniture and decoration brand Ikea, which made its launch in the country official. It will invest around US$600 million to open nine stores in Colombia, Peru and Chile.
Initially, it plans to open three stores in the country, the first in Mallplaza NQS, in Bogotá, and will have an area of 26,000 square meters. Subsequently, it will open two other stores in 2024. One in Cali (Mallplaza Cali) and another in Medellín (Viva Envigado).
In addition, they will offer their catalog through the electronic commerce portal, which will be available first in Bogotá, and will gradually reach other cities.
Along with the arrival of these resources, the brand will hire 1,300 people. “One of Ikea’s great proposals for the country is to continue boosting the economy, offering Colombians more than 1,300 new jobs by 2024,” said Hasbleidy Castañeda, manager of Ikea Colombia.
For the opening of its stores, the brand will bring to the country more than 6,000 furniture and decorative items at affordable prices.
These Ikea investments are made by Falabella. It is highlighted that, in the brand’s spaces, gastronomy will have a preponderant role, since they will include the complete proposal: restaurant, bistro and the traditional Swedish market, where characteristic products of the Scandinavian menu will be available, such as meatballs and rolls of cinnamon, as well as local preparations and ingredients.
Ara Stores
On the other hand, last week, Tiendas Ara, which belongs to the Portuguese group Jerónimo Martins, and which already has a large presence in the country, announced the opening of another 230 stores this year, increasing its presence to 1,230.
The company’s CEO, Pedro Soares dos Santos, made the announcement at a meeting between President Gustavo Petro and Soares in Lisbon, as part of the Colombian president’s working visit to Portugal last week.
During the meeting, the Government also put to the consideration of the senior manager of the Jerónimo Martins group the possibility that Tiendas Ara buy directly from the peasants of the country the products that it sells in its establishments in Colombia.
In this sense, agreements were reached between the Government and Jerónimo Martins, on food in the country, so that the company can be an ally in the agro-industrialization of the countryside.
One of the agreements that stood out the most from the visit was that Ara promised to return with the project to support community homes of the Colombian Institute for Family Welfare (Icbf), which aims to reduce child malnutrition.
The president invited the Portuguese company to collaborate with an agreement “so that they play an important role in the agro-industrialization of the countryside, through direct purchase, with the aim of reducing intermediaries, lowering production prices and guaranteeing better income for farmers.” producers”.
Technology
Likewise, the Korean brand Daewoo, intends this year to have in the Colombian market everything from electric cars to smartphones, laptops and tablets and their traditional household appliances that stopped being in the country eight years ago. This was announced by Christian Aliaga, CEO of the Andean Region for Daewoo. The return of the brand will be made through the sale of high-tech products such as smart TVs, laptops, smartphones, tablets, and white goods: refrigerators, iceboxes, washing machines, and stoves.
According to the brand’s plans, the entire product portfolio will be launched in stages during 2023.
On the other hand, the brand of grills and accessories Weber, announced that it is strengthening its operation in Colombia through its franchise model.
Juan Carlos González, general manager for Latin America, explained that the Weber Original Store with Grill Academy in Bogotá joins the 40 stores that the brand has in the region.
In the next 5 years, the grill brand has the goal of consolidating its subsidiary model in Mexico, Chile and Colombia, as well as continuing the geographical expansion of the distribution model in the rest of Latin America. By 2027, its purpose is to have doubled sales again and its market share in the region, which today is close to 5%.
Applications
Likewise, the Bumble dating application has focused on offering safe and friendly spaces to its users, which has led this app to have significant growth in the 150 countries where it is currently present.
Recently, Samantha García, marketing director for Latin America, mentioned that: “In 2023, Colombia will be the fifth country in Latin America with a presence of the platform, after Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Brazil.”
Box
The other foreign investments
During the first three months of this year, a total of US$637 million entered from other economic sectors, with a slight increase compared to US$616 million a year earlier.
Likewise, in March of this year, in the case of foreign investment destined for a portfolio (that is, fixed-income and variable-income securities such as shares) in Colombia it was US$668 million.
An analysis called ‘Characterization of foreign direct investment in Colombia (FDI): activities other than mining and oil’, carried out by Adrián Martínez Osorio, Enrique Montes Uribe and Juan Camilo Santos Peña, from Banco de la República, as well as Iader Giraldo Salazar , an official of the Latin American Reserve Fund, emphasizes that the participation in foreign trade “of companies in the non-mining-energy sectors with FDI is more linked to imports than to exports.” The first thing, they say, is perhaps due to the need to obtain inputs or technology from parent companies or from the international market. While the latter seems to be more associated with the objective of providing goods and services to the local market, without the need to scale production to sell to regional or global markets.
They assure that, except for the manufacturing industry sector, the income from the export of goods from the other sectors is not relevant, which may be evidence of a weak relationship between FDI and the export vocation of these companies.
The study shows that the financial and accounting indicators indicate how most of the FDI that reaches these sectors goes to large companies and few firms explain the aggregate financial results of each activity, indicating a high concentration of production in companies that lead each productive branch.
They point out that it should be noted that the commercialization of services is constituted as an alternative source of income and as a significant part of the costs of companies.