COLOMBIA, A POSITIVE COUNTRY

Prepared by:
Coordination of Internal and External
Communication Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs

CLOSE UP

· VENUE FOR THE CENTRAL AMERICAN GAMES: Coldeportes officially handed over the venue for the general organization of the 20th Central American and Caribbean-Cartagena-Barranquilla Sports Championships 2006. The site is located in the Manga sector and has physical space favorable to work on the aspects required to fulfill the commitments acquired by Coldeportes to carry out the event.

· VALUABLE SOURCE OF REFERENCE: Since July 21, the Luis Carlos Galán Library opened its doors to the public in Bogotá with services including the reference room, an online catalog, guided tours, a library, user training and a cafeteria, among others. The Library has the Librarian system, which allows the flexible management of the books, as well as their location and the online reading of associated documents. It is divided into three rooms: the Juan Lozano y Lozano Room with 34 thousand books on world history, natural sciences, biographies, law, sociology and writings in English, French, German, Italian, Swedish, Norwegian and Portuguese, among others; and the Luis Eduardo Nieto Caballero and Eduardo Nieto Calderón Rooms, which have 10.000 copies in different areas. The Library is located in Bogotá, Carrera 6 No 8 – 94.

SOCIAL EQUALITY

· VACCINE BALANCE: during the first half of 2004, 637 thousand children were vaccinated in the entire company. This progress is significant if you bear in mind that during the first half of 2002, vaccines were applied on 200 thousand minors. The good results of children’s vaccination are also reflected in the percentage increase of coverage: while it was 85% in 2002, coverage is now up to 93.9%.

· GROWTH OF NATURAL GAS: the natural gas utility has reached 342 of the country’s towns, 31 of which are receiving this service for the first time in 2003, reaching a total of 3.3 million homes, benefiting 13 million Colombians. In order to expand the coverage of this public utility, the new rates that will allow the connection of 800 thousand new users in 49 towns were approved with an investment of US $164 million. As for compressed natural gas for vehicles, the subsidy cut on liquid fuels has encouraged the conversion of nearly 37,326 vehicles, 22,395 of which have been converted during this Administration, that is, 56% of the goal set by the President.

· SUPPORT FOR CULTURAL PROJECTS: the National Government will co-finance the execution of 1252 cultural projects from all over the country this year with an investment of $13 billion. These projects form a part of the 4172 projects from 823 towns from all the provinces, which were submitted as a part of the competition by the National Harmony Program of the Ministry of Culture during the first half of 2004. The Ministry of Culture will contact the legal representatives of the beneficiary organizations in order for them to process the agreements. All the information regarding the exact amount assigned to each of the winning initiatives can be consulted at: www.mincultura.gov.co. In September, the Ministry will hold a new competition for the year 2005.

· NEW MEMBERS OF THE CONTRIBUTORY SYSTEM: during the year 2003, the contributory health system increased by 639,739 new members. The Government’s goal for said year was to increase in by 300 thousand new members, that is, the purpose was met by 213%. The general goal proposed is to increase affiliation to the contributory system by one million 300 thousand people during the four-year period: 300 thousand in 2003, 300 thousand in 2004, 300 thousand in 2005 and 400 thousand in 2006. Being affiliated to the contributory system guarantees access to a health service package defined in the Mandatory Health Plan (POS in Spanish), which includes prevention programs and health care, health promotion and financial aid for the contributor: maternity or paternity leave and disability for general illness.

SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND GENERATING EMPLOYMENT

· FAVORABLE ENERGY BALANCE: electric energy exports continue to show good performance. In June this year, 63 Giga Watts/hour of electric power were sold to Ecuador, which represent revenues of US $2.5 million. This contributed to the fact that for the first six months of the year the total exported was placed at 838.13 GWh, reported US $58.9 million. While in June Colombia sold Ecuador 63 GWh, the country bought 14.5 GWh, for which it paid US $242,043, which means a positive energy balance for the Nation. In 16 months of operation, the International Short-term Electricity Transactions, TIE in Spanish, have brought the Colombian Electric Sector US $139.5 million in sales of electric power, making Ecuador a very interesting market for Colombia.

· THE COTTON SECTOR IS GROWING: so far in the year 2004, cotton crops have presented a growth of 48%, up from 44,225 hectares planted in 2003 to 65,591 hectares planted between January and June this year. In the coastal region and the eastern plains, 39,428 hectares were harvested, reaching a total production of 29,363 tons, which represents a productivity of 745 kilos of cotton fiber per hectare, while the inner region closed sowing season with 26,163 hectares. Employment increased by 5,127,849 day’s wages, which represent 21,366 new jobs.

· TO THE UNITED STATES: on September 29, Colombia will carry out the second Business Conference in Miami, which on this occasion will take place with the United States. The idea is for nearly 400 Colombian entrepreneurs to be able to hold business meetings with 205 U.S. and Canadian buyers, who will attend as special guests. For this event, Proexport has considered potential the sectors of agriculture, processed foods, seafood, clothing, leather and fur, footwear and leatherwork, ceramics, construction materials, furniture, jewelry, medical equipment, publishing, plastics, manual tools, car parts and software. Companies interested in participating have until August 30 to fill out the pre-inscription form published on: www.bizmatch2004.com and www.proexport.com.co.

DEMOCRATIC SECURITY

· GREAT ADVANCES OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS: nearly 7 thousand antipersonnel mines have been destroyed by the National Government since June last year. On October 25, the President plans to complete the destruction of 100% of the Military Forces mine arsenal, thus complying with the Ottawa Convention, also known as the Convention on the Prohibition of Employment, Storage, Production and Transfer of Antipersonnel Mines and their Destruction.
· MORE DEMOBILIZED INSURGENTS: 158 members of the armed groups outside the law have been demobilized in the month of July, reaching a total of 1,501 desertions so far in 2004. The province that has had the most demobilization this year is Antioquia with 31, followed by Casanare with 20, Cundinamarca with 14, Boyacá with 11 and Norte de Santander with 10. The rest of the voluntary demobilizations have been reported in other provinces. During the current administration, 4,769 members of armed groups outside the law have been demobilized.

STATE EFFICIENCY AND TRANSPARENCY

· INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AIR, SEA AND RIVER TRANSPORTATION: the development of the transportation infrastructure in Colombia is on the dynamic road to accelerated progress. During the current administration, the air transportation issue has completed work in 6 community airports with an investment of $6 billion, favoring over 100 thousand Colombians. The radars of Carimagua and Carepa were handed over with an investment of $21 billion. As for air security, VOR-DMEs have been installed in Riohacha, Río Negro and Zipaquirá for a total of $4 billion. As for the strengthening of the sea and river system, in August 2002, the Government began work to make this option more competitive, by contracting the dredging of the access channel to the port of Buenaventura up to 10 meters deep, which has already been completed, while in Barranquilla the process of contracting the hydraulic depth work is currently underway.

(FIN/PCO/HME/CIE)
July 23, 2004