Colombia,
A Positive Country
Prepared by:
Affairs Coordinator
Internal and External Communications
Ministry of Foreign Relations
ON THE FRONT PAGE
• MOBILITY INCREASED DURING EASTER
WEEK: more than 12
million people took a trip during Easter Week, representing an
increase of 23% over the same season last year when 10 million
people traveled. According to a Highway Police report, during
Easter Week there were 2.4 million vehicle movements recorded,
while last year in the same season there were 2 million movements.
The Departments with the greatest levels of movement were Cundinamarca
(including Bogotá) with a total of 706,091 vehicles, followed
by Tolima with 251,998, Antioquia with 222,369, Risaralda with
190,632 and Meta with 155,578. The number of traffic accidents
decreased, going from 32 (a year ago) to 29, implying a 9% reduction.
SOCIAL INVESTMENT
• INVESTMENT IN THE SIERRA NEVADA
MOUNTAINS OF SANTA MARTA: social investment by the national government in the Sierra Nevada
Mountains of Santa Marta reached $30 billion pesos, of which
around $7 billion have already been used in benefit of the vulnerable
population in that region of the country. The Presidential Council
for Social Action indicated that this investment is allocated
in coordination with the international community and the Mayors’ and
Governors’ offices in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. With
the support of the Second and Tenth Army Brigades, and the establishment
of the High Mountain Battalion in the district of Santa Clara,
in Fundación, Magdalena, the communities of the Sierra
Nevada Mountains of Santa Marta have begun to benefit from the
state actions. So far, 5,353 families have benefited from 11
campaigns carried out by the Center for Integral Action under
the Presidency of the Republic, which have brought specialized
medical attention, food kits, donations, ID card campaigns, and
sign-up and registration in subsidized health to the region.
• FREE MEDICAL ATTENTION TO PATIENTS
WITH TUBERCULOSIS: with an investment of $928,879,000 to buy
tuberculosis medicine,
the Ministry of Social Protection will guarantee free treatment
to all those who are currently suffering from this illness and
to new cases. On their part, the Departments will receive transfers
totaling $1,849 million pesos to be used for implementing the
directly observed treatment, short course (DOTS) strategy, and
activities for the promotion, prevention, surveillance, and control
of the illness. According to the Ministry of Social Protection,
the Departmental, municipal, and local health services, as part
of their plan for Basic Medical Attention, must continue to diagnose
70% of the existing cases of smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis.
• RECONSTRUCTION COMPLETED IN
THE COFFEE GROWING REGION: with the completion of 202 construction
and reconstruction works
in the areas of health, education, public services, and public
and social infrastructure in the coffee growing region, which
were handed over to the Social Solidarity Network for their corresponding
execution, the regional reconstruction process has been concluded.
Among the works, the market plaza in Armenia, or the Retail Center,
is noteworthy, which had a cost of $4,914 million, will have
704 retail outlets, and will soon open its doors. The Coffee
Region Reconstruction process was handed over to the Solidarity
Network on July 26, 2002. Since then it has executed 37 projects
in education, 12 in health, 129 in public infrastructure, 21
in public services, and three in other projects that overlap
several categories.
• LOAN FROM THE WORLD BANK TO
COLOMBIA: two credits, one
for 100 million dollars and another for US $70 million were approved
by the World Bank for Colombia. The resources are allocated for
continuing the program for fiscal reforms in the public sector,
and to improve access to water services and make improvements.
The director of the World Bank for Colombia and Mexico, Isabel
Guerrero, indicated that these loans seek to support the Colombian
government’s Development Plan by investing in the social
sector and improving the State’s transparency and effectiveness.
The loan of US $100 million, with a term of 13 years with a 8
and a half year grace period, seeks to promote the fiscal reforms
necessary to achieve sustainable economic stability, and at the
same time to improve the effectiveness and responsibility of
public spending.
SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH AND GENERATION OF EMPLOYMENT
• UNEMPLOYMENT DECREASED BY 14%
IN FEBRUARY: at the national level, the unemployment rate went
down to 14% in February of
this year, compared to 15.4% in the same month of 2004. The National
Department of Statistics (DANE) reported that this rate is the
lowest in the last five years, ever since the Continuous Home
Survey began to be applied. This decrease means that in the entire
country the number of people who do not have employment was reduced
by 282 thousand, going from 3,129,000 to 2,842,000 citizens unemployed.
In February of 2001 unemployment for the whole country was 17.3%,
in 2002 it went down to 16.4%, and in the second month of 2003
it was 16.5%. This means that between 2002 and 2005 unemployment
in February went down 3.3 percentage points.
• MILLIONS IN EARNINGS FOR ISAGEN: ISAGEN, the energy generator and distributor had earnings of
$168,621 million pesos
for 2004. The national government owns 76.9% of that company.
Its report to the shareholders at the regular shareholder assembly
shows that earnings for 2004 were 33.8% greater over those of
2003, when the company came out in the black in the amount of
$126,016 million pesos.
• ECONOMY GREW BY 4.12% IN 2004: the Colombian economy continued its sustained trend toward
good economic growth rates,
growing 4.12% in 2004, without including illicit crops. A report
by the National Department of Statistics (DANE) stated that this
growth came from good earnings reports from construction, financial
intermediation services, the manufacturing industry, the commercial
sector, hotels and restaurants, transportation, telecommunications,
and income from import taxes. The 4.12% growth in the Colombian
economy, without illicit crops, is similar to the average growth
rate for the countries of Latin America, which was 4%. On comparison,
Colombia grew more than Mexico, Brazil and Bolivia, but less
than Argentina, Ecuador, Chile and Costa Rica.
• US $156 MILLION FOR INVESTMENT
IN PORT FACILITIES: the
bid process for Plan 2500, the largest transportation infrastructure
project in the history of the country, began on the right foot.
In just two days the National Road Institute (Invías)
has received 524 bids for the paving and repaving projects for
65 road segments in different regions. Of the 524 bids, 236 are
for 33 segments located in the Departments of Amazonas, Antioquia,
Valle del Cauca, Atlántico, Bolívar, Boyacá,
Casanare, Cauca, Chocó, and the islands of San Andrés
and Providencia, which together cover a distance of 745.67 kilometers.
The remaining 288 bids are for 32 segments located in the Departments
of Magdalena, Meta, and Nariño.
STATE EFFICIENCY AND TRANSPARENCY
• SELECTION PROCESSES REGULATED
FOR GOVERNMENT JOBS: the national government regulated how
competitions and selection
processes will be managed for the 300 thousand government sector
jobs currently existing in the Nation, the Departments, and the
Municipalities. With Decree 760 of March 17 the Administrative
Department of Government Functions regulated this area, detailed
in the new law on Government Employment. This law will be applied
to all government employees, who will be evaluated two times
a year to decide if they will continue at their posts. With the
new law, connections and recommendations will no longer be used
to obtain government positions, and any person may compete for
a government job. The selection of new employees will be by means
of a competition, which will be run by the public and private
universities that are registered with the National Commission
of Civil Service.
• SECOND INVITATION TO SAY GOOD-BYE
TO CHEATING: the national
government will hold a second session of the project “Good-bye
to cheating”. This session has the purpose of inviting
children from 6 to 16 years of age to participate through their
drawings, where they will express their dream of a Colombia without
cheating, without corruption, with peace and getting along with
each other. The selected drawings will participate in art shows
in the cultural areas of the Bank of the Republic in Armenia,
Cartagena, Florencia, Ipiales, Manizales, Riohacha, Sincelejo,
and Valledupar from August 8 to September 30 of this year. The
best of those drawings will be chosen and will be shown in the
Luis Ángel Arango Library in Bogotá from October
10, 2005 to January 20, 2006.
DEMOCRATIC SECURITY
COLOMBIA HAS BRAND NEW SEISMOLOGICAL
STATIONS: Colombia received a donation of 700 thousand dollars
from the government of Japan
to equip and remodel a rehabilitation center for victims of anti-personnel
mines in the University Hospital of Valle. Those resources are
directed toward a sensitive issue in the country, where, last
year, 600 Colombians were seriously injured by mines, the majority
members of the Police and Armed Forces. Colombia is committed
to the destruction of anti-personnel mines. Last year 890 mines
were eliminated that the Police and Armed Forces had in their
power for educational purposes. With the donation, the University
Hospital in Valle will be the main center for medical attention
to the victims of anti-personnel mines in that region, one of
the most affected by that problem, and will cover the needs for
medical attention and rehabilitation in the Departments of Valle
del Cauca, Cauca, Nariño, Caldas, Risaralda, Putumayo,
Chocó, Huila, Caquetá, and Quindío.
(FIN/HM/CIE)
April 1, 2005
