Colombia,
A Positive Country
Prepared by:
Internal and External Communications
Affairs Coordinator
Ministry of Foreign Relations
ON THE FRONT PAGE
• INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION HAS
DOUBLED: during this Administration, the international cooperation
received for development by Colombia
went up from US$150 to US$300 million a year. This figure does
not include the aid received for its anti-drug fight, where the
United States contributes US$600 million a year. The Executive
Branch optimized its coordination with national and regional
agencies and cooperating countries, to invest resources with
efficiency and transparency in the strengthening of social strategies.
• BOLIVARIAN GAMES WILL HAVE
24-HOUR TV COVERAGE: the satellite signal will be free for countries
who want to watch
the XV Bolivarian Games that will be held in Armenia, Pereira
and Cartagena on 12-21 August. There will be a frequency set
on the satellite for all continent countries.
SOCIAL EQUITY
• LAND HANDED OVER TO 52 PEASANT
FAMILIES: the Government
distributed 544 hectares among 52 low income families in Puerto
Salgar, Cundinamarca. The lands in La Esperanza and the Tierra
Grata or Bucarelia Farm, on the road from La Dorada to Medellín,
correspond to two premises expropriated from drug dealers for
agricultural reform purposes. Their price adds up to $1.8 billion,
and they will be devoted to cattle raising and production of
corn, hay, and subsistence products.
• 34 THOUSAND COMPUTERS FOR SCHOOLS: since 2002 to date,
the program called “Computers to Educate” has conditioned
and delivered 34,536 computers to schools located in vulnerable
zones of the country. The target is to deliver a total of 11,000
units. As a result of this program, students in 3,575 schools
have been able to access IT training. The computers are part
of donations made by public and private agencies. Last week the
program received its donation number 80 thousand.
• SAUBSIDIZED HEALTH: this Administration
has increased the subsidized regime by 4.8 million new affiliates
receiving
partial and total health subsidy. This means that the subsidized
health coverage went up from 10,744,289 beneficiaries in August
2002, to 15,553,474 in February 2005. At the end of this year,
the subsidized health regime will reach nearly 18 million affiliates
and the target for the end of the 4-year period is to add 5.9
million people: 3 million with total subsidy and 2.9 partial.
• ACCES EDUATION CREDIT: in the past 29 months, Icetex
has approved 62,996 education loans to make the dreams of Colombian
youth come true among high school students in social strata 1,
2 and 3, through the program named Quality Access to High Level
Education –ACCES: 26,014 loans were approved in 2003; 26,289
in 2004 and 10,693 in the first half of 2005. The Government
has allocated resources of over $50 billion and its funds are
nearly $500 billion to finance the students’ professional
career.
SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH AND GENERATION OF EMPLOYMENT
• 15.4% INREASE IN EXPORTS IN
JANUARY: Colombian exports
increased by 15.4% vis-à-vis the same month in 2004. According
to the National Statistics Department (DANE), total sales went
up from US$1,181 million to US$1,363 million in the analyzed
period. The over 15% increase was the result of a 32% increase
in non-traditional exports (other than coffee, oil, coal and
ferronickel). Traditional exports grew by 1.8%, from US$651 million
to US$663 million.
• OIL PRODUCTION INCREASED BY
2.8% IN MARCH: according to Ecopetrol, while in March last year
the country produced 517,931
oil barrels per day, in March 2005 it increased to 532,643 barrels.
It also went beyond February figures by 3.4%, when it reported
a 515,101 barrel daily production. In the first quarter of 2005,
total production reached 1,565,706 barrels per day, a similar
level to that reached in the first quarter in 2004, when production
added up to 1,562,428 barrels.
• EXPOEMPRESARIA 2005, FROM 16
TO 19 JUNE: the National
Fair of the Entrepreneurial Woman, which will take place in Corferias
Bogotá, will show the works of 385 small industries, within
the frame of the Entrepreneurial Woman Month. The Presidential
Advisory Office for Women Equity, Confecámaras, 24 Chambers
of Commerce, and the Bank of Bogotá foster women entrepreneurial
activities, visualize competitive small industries in the local,
regional and national market, and establish links among consumers
and government agencies in their aim to contribute to the creation
of companies and the generation of jobs.
• SENA EDUCATION IN INTERNET: so far in the year 2005,
Sena has trained 99,800 people in productive skills, through
virtual education offered by Internet, in 150 modules – 40
hours – in areas that include administration, natural science
and health, social science, governmental services, culture, primary
and extraction mining, and industrial equipment operation, among
others. www.sena.edu.co/portal.
• 10.9% INCREASED PROFITS IN
THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM: according to the Banking Superintendence,
profits in the first four months
this year amounted to 104.589 trillion pesos, compared to $995.645
billion in the same period in 2004. National capital private
banks increased their profits by 16.7%, from $708,814 million
in January-April 2004, to $827,614 million in the same period
in 2005.
•
STATE EFFICIENCY AND TRANSPARENCY
• PORTAL COLOMBIA LEARNS, RECEIVED
UNESCO’S
AWARD: the portal Colombia Learns, of the Ministry of Education,
was
recognized by UNESCO as the third best Internet site dedicated
to the youth, among 180 sites in different countries in Latin
America and the Caribbean, based on its creativity, quality of
content, graphic design, functionality, accessibility, usefulness
for the youth, permanence, validity of contents and expected
life of the site. It ranked third after the Puente Alto Library
Center in Chile and the Children Museum in Caracas, Venezuela.
DEMOCRATIC SECURITY
• BATUTA IN YOPAL: the displaced population now residing
in Yopal, Casanare, will have access to musical education provided
by Batuta, financed by the Social Solidarity Network, in the
new musical education center recently inaugurated in this region.
This adds to the 5,462 beneficiaries who have gained access to
this education in 24 provinces during the Administration of President Álvaro
Uribe, who has often stated that “a child who holds a musical
instrument in his hands, will never brandish a gun”.
(FIN/JHINA/HM/CIE)
27 May 2005
