Colombia

According to budgetary documentation published by Colombian government, the Defence Budget for 2016 was some 28.92 trillion Colombian Pesos (COP) (approximately 9.95 billion US dollars), while in contrast the 2000 defence expenditure amounted to merely 12.7 trillion COP (approximately 4.37 billion US dollars).

Colombia is situated in the Northern part of South America. It borders with Brazil, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and Venezuela and has a coastline on both the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. The capital and largest city of Colombia is Bogota. The population of Colombia is not evenly distributed, as most Colombians live in the mountainous western portion of the country and in the northern coastline, while the southern and eastern regions of Colombia are sparsely inhabited by small farming communities and indigenous tribes.

Colombia is a country with tropical forests and plains, traversed by rivers and streams, especially in the eastern regions. Access to such remote and hard to approach communities, is mainly achieved by river boats, while effective patrolling of the related parts of the Colombian borders, is particularly difficult to achieve. Further, other areas of the country are connected to the mainland, mostly by use of naval vessels (e.g. the archipelago of San Andrés and Providencia).

Colombia has been generously gifted with non-renewable resources. It has one of the largest coal open mine pits in the world, in the region of Cerrejon in the Guajira Peninsula. It also has oil rigs and natural gas. Furthermore, Colombia’s soil is also rich in emeralds, gold, silver, iron, salt, platinum and uranium.

The socio-economic situation in Colombia has drastically altered in the last decade. The country can be seen as a great example of the inherent link between prosperity and domestic security. The four-decade long conflict between government forces and anti-government insurgent groups, principally the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has been deescalating. This new ‘environment’ has created the appropriate socio-economic conditions in order for the country to experience an accelerated growth.

Colombia has managed to establish a viable industrial base which includes numerous entities that provide services and/or products to a broad range of sectors. One of these sectors is that of automotive. The automotive industry in the country extends mostly to the activities of assembly (light vehicles, trucks, buses and motorcycles) and the manufacture of parts and components, later integrated into complete platforms by OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers). This activity also encompasses the inputs of suppliers of other adjacent industries such as the metallurgical/metalmechanics, the petrochemical (i.e. plastic and rubber products) and that of textiles. Colombia is the fourth largest vehicle producer in Latin America with more than 130 thousand units per year (2015). In 2010, the Colombian automotive sector exhibited rather impressive figures in terms of sales, production and level of employment. Sales had a record year (some 253,900 new units were produced and sold) demonstrating an increase of 37.1% with regard to the previous year (some 185,100 units). Indicatively, the vehicles’ sector contribution to the national economy in 2014, was equivalent to 1.6% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Also in 2014, Colombia registered a new record in sales surpassing 328,000 units, while between 2015 and 2019, vehicle sales are expected to grow at an average rate of 5.8%, thus sales are to exceed the 430,000 units mark, in 2019.

On the international front, Colombia is an active member of several international organisations. The Latin American country traditionally plays an active role in the United Nations and the Organization of American States (OAS). Additionally, Colombia is a member, associate member or observer in the following international organisations: the Andean Community of Nations (CAN), the Caribbean Community and Common Market (Caricom), the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Southern Common Market (Mercosur).