COLOMBIA,
A POSITIVE COUNTRY
Prepared by:
Affairs Coordinator
Internal and External Communications
Ministry of Foreign Relations
ON THE FRONT PAGE
· SIGN LANGUAGE TRAINING: during the next four months,
600 volunteers will be trained by Coldeportes in sign language
and caring for people with physical, hearing, and visual disabilities
to support the performance of the first National Paraolympic
Games, an event to be held between the coming 23 and 30 October
in Bogotá. The target set by Coldeportes is to be able
to train 25 people per week on these matters to guide the nearly
1,600 athletes affected by some sort of physical or sensory disability
and who will be participating in 26 sports disciplines. The Nation
contributed 2.8 billion to hold the first version of these games.
· COLOMBIAN POEMS IN WASHINGTON: Colombian poets Fernando
Charry Lara and Armando Romero delighted the audience that on
the past 9th of July gathered at the United States Library of
Congress. The artists read selected poems from their extensive
works, joining the noted list of Hispanic authors who have selections
of their works recorded on tapes at the library’s Hispanic
Division. This important collection includes recordings made
by Nobel prizes, such as Pablo Neruda and Octavio Paz.
SOCIAL INVESTMENT
· HIGH LEVEL NATIONAL EDUCATION: the European Union awarded
scholarships to 113 Colombians to study in Spain, the United
Kingdom, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, and
Portugal. The beneficiaries were selected from a group of 3,901
applicants of the European Union’s program of High Level
Training Scholarships for Latin America. This year, the number
of students selected was four times higher regarding the first
time this event took place in Colombia; with 14.5%, it was ranked
in third place on the list of beneficiary countries, after Brazil
(27.4%) and Mexico (17,46%). For further information on this
program, go to: http://europa.eu.int/comm/europeaid/projects/alban/index_es.htm
· FOR A MORE MODERN ENVIRONMENTAL
NETWORK: with an investment of $23.6 billion, Ideam acquired
235 hydrometeorological and
environmental stations with satellite transmission, 355 automatic
recorders to be installed in hydric sources, 15 laboratory sets
for physical and chemical analysis of environmental samples,
and a mobile air quality station to take samples of contaminants.
These sets of equipment will allow Ideam to have an enhanced
accuracy concerning the sampling of variables such as river levels,
precipitation, air temperature, radiation, evaporation, air humidity,
velocity, distance traveled and direction of the wind. With the
installation of this new equipment, Colombia has 2,781 stations.
· EXODUS OF COLOMBIANS DIMINISHES: Dane revealed that while in the year 2000, 282,310 Colombians
left the country,
in 2003 the figure went down to 143,611 nationals. The economic
crisis and the high unemployment at the end of the last decade
were the main reasons for the massive exodus of Colombians. Dane
specifically highlighted that during the last four years, the
exodus of Colombians abroad decreased by 49,1%. The National
Government hopes that the number of Colombians migrating this
year is lower, owing to the fact that the Colombian economy is
undergoing an expansion period, with a growth in excess of 4%
of the GDP in the first quarter.
SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH AND GENERATION OF EMPLOYMENT
· FOREIGN INVESTMENT INCREASES: in the first three months
of 2004, the amount of US$546 million came in the country as
Direct Foreign Investment (IED for its initials in Spanish).
According to the Central Bank’s report on evolution of
the balance of payments in the first quarter of 2004, such an
investment is higher by US$233 million than that recorded in
the same period in 2003. From this foreign investment sum, US$312
million were earmarked for the mining and quarry sector, US$43
million for manufacturing activities, and US$33 million for financial
activities. In turn, during the first three months, the investment
made by Colombian entrepreneurs abroad reached US$27 million
and financing obtained through net external credit increased
by US$323 million.
· PALM TREE OIL, ON THE RIGHT TRACK: the Federación
Nacional de Cultivadores de Palma de Aceite (Fedepalma - National
Federation of Palm Tree Growers), reported an increase of 23,1%
in the production of raw palm tree oil in Colombia during the
first five months of 2004. During this period in 2003, oil production
reached 248,000 tons, whereas during the first five months of
2004, the figure was 305,000 tons, that is, a production of 57
thousand tons more of raw oil. On a production zone basis, the
one that increased the most was the northern zone with 19 thousand
tons, representing a 31.8% increase.
· NON-TRADITIONAL EXPORTS INCREASE: the behavior of the Colombian economy, as well as the dynamism
of exports, allows
to foresee that by the end of this year, external non-traditional
sales could reach more than US$7.8 billion, that is, US$800 million
more than sales in 2003. The results obtained in the first four
months of the year allow to observe a significant growth in 2004,
especially for non-traditional exports. Between January and April
of this year, total exports amounted to US$ 4.6 billion, against
US$4.1 billion in the first four months of 2003.
DEMOCRATIC SECURITY
· FOR SAFE ROADS: in
order to ensure a greater security for the country’s roads,
the National Government gave the Public Forces 1,100 motorcycles
with helmets and vests, 20 automobiles,
8 trucks, and 45 vans. These vehicles have a GPS system and satellite
signal and are valued at over $10 billion. The vehicles were
purchased with the money collected by Instituto Nacional de Vías
(Invias - National Road Institute), derived from the surcharge
of $200 that travelers in the country pay at the tollgates.
·
BACK HOME: 14,072 families displaced by violence, 59,081 people,
have returned to their homes so far during the Administration
of President Álvaro Uribe Vélez. Out of these families,
4,379 went back to their villages between August and December
2002, while 7,704 returned in 2003, and 1,989 in 2004 to date.
The return strategy for displaced Colombians, led by Consejería
Presidencial para la Acción Social - Social Action Presidential
Commission, seeks to provide holistic support to families returning
to their hometowns, under agreement schemes with the territorial
authorities, government institutions of local and regional nature,
national and international cooperation organizations, and communities
affected by the forced displacement problem. The process includes
the analysis of viability conditions for the return regarding
security, willfulness, and sustainability.
STATE EFFICIENCY AND TRANSPARENCY
· NEW TECHNOLOGY REACHES BALLOT-BOXES: in the next five
years, the elections with big cards and cardboard ballot boxes
that have characterized this process in Colombia will disappear
with the implementation of the electronic vote established by
law 892 of 7 July 2004. The law, which was approved by President Álvaro
Uribe Vélez, points out that the Electoral Organization
will be responsible for the implementation of this voting mechanism,
which will also govern the Colombian identification card inscription
process. The new law establishes that the electronic voting system
must accept the three types of Colombian identification cards
available in the country for reading thereof, in addition to
incorporating a digital fingerprint capture mechanism, with no
detriment to other systems, in order to verify the citizen’s
identity.
·
FOR POOR COLOMBIANS: since August 2002 and to date, the Ministry
of the Environment, Housing, and Territorial Development has
promoted the delivery of 14,495 title deeds for urban and rural
properties, to the poorest Colombians. During 2003, 14,015 title
deeds were delivered, while so far this year, 480 have been awarded.
With the 14,495 title deeds offered to date, 64% of the initial
target set by the Government, intended to deliver 22,500 title
deeds, is being met. Department-wide, the title deeds were awarded
during the year 2003, as follows: 1,150 in Antioquia, 4,551 in
Atlántico, 2,942 in Bolívar, 1,289 in Cesar, 320
in La Guajira, 1,650 in Magdalena, 749 in Meta, 1,184 in Putumayo,
and 180 in Santander.
(FIN/PCO/HME/CIE)
9 July 2004
