Colombia, A Positive
Country
Prepared by:
Affairs Coordinator
Internal and External Communications
Ministry of Foreign Relations
ON THE FRONT PAGE
• HIGH OCCUPANCY RATE FOR HOTELS: Colombian hotels will close the year 2005 with the highest
occupancy rate for the last
17 years, announced the Hotel Association of Colombia (Cotelco).
Forecasts indicate that the average occupancy will be 57% this
year, a level that has not been seen since 1988. The hotel industry
predicts that the vacation season in December and January will
be very positive, especially in the Caribbean and the coffee
growing region, where an occupancy rate of over 90% is expected.
• SIX GRAMMYS FOR COLOMBIANS: Juanes was the big winner
in the Latin Grammys, winning three awards. He won a Grammy for
the best rock song for Nada valgo sin tu amor (I’m Worth
Nothing Without your Love), one for best rock solo vocalist for
Mi Sangre (My Blood), and one for best music video for Volverte
a ver (See you Again). The award ceremony took place in the city
of Los Angeles at the Shrine Auditorium. Carlos Vives, Bacilos,
and Lina Luna also won Grammys. On her part, Shakira received
the award for best female act in the 12th MTV Europe Music Awards,
celebrated in Lisbon, Portugal.
• COLOMBIAN ATHLETE AMONG THE
GOLF ELITE: after holding
the thirteen spot for winnings in the Nationwide Tour in the
United States, Camilo Villegas received the membership card that
will allow him to play in the United States PGA circuit (Professional
Golfers’ Association), in which athletes such as Tiger
Woods and Vijay Singh participate. “I am mentally prepared
to compete with the best golfers in the world, and to thus give
great joy to my country,” commented the young athlete.
SOCIAL INVESTMENT
• THE WORLD BANK LOANED US $86.4
MILLION FOR THE SOCIAL SECURITY NETWORK: the World Bank approved resources for Colombia
to support the national government’s fight against poverty
and inequality. The project will complement current initiatives
in the sectors of health and education by means of cash transfers
to 400 thousand families who live in extreme poverty. In exchange,
those families will send their children to school regularly and
take them to health clinics. The loan has a five-year payment
period, and a grace period of 8 years.
• NATIONAL PRIZE FOR MEDICINE: several of these prizes,
promoted by the National Academy of Medicine and the Sanofi Aventis
Group, were awarded to work carried out in Colombia. The INS
and the Los Andes and El Bosque universities were awarded for
their project to learn about the effects of Glyphosate on human
health. The ‘Hospital Materno Infantil’ and ‘Universidad
Nacional’ won for research that established a precision
diagnosis tool as to whether or not a loss of an embryo has been
caused by abnormal development of the placenta and the embryo.
And Colciencias and ‘Universidad Nacional’ were awarded
for their advances in combating gastroenteritis caused by rotaviruses
present in mammals and birds, which is highly contagious for
children under five years of age, and which in extreme cases
may lead to death.
SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH AND GENERATION OF EMPLOYMENT
• LOWEST INFLATION IN 35 YEARS: the accumulated inflation for January to October in Colombia
was 4.66%, the lowest in 35
years, reported DANE. During the same period in 2004 the rate
was 4.88%. In October, prices increased 0.23%, while in October
2004 the rate was 0.01%.
• SALE OF GRANAHORRAR CONFIRMS
CONFIDENCE IN COLOMBIA: Granahorrar Bank was sold to the private sector for $970,000
million, which confirms investor confidence in Colombia and in
its economy, expressed President Álvaro Uribe. BBVA acquired
it for more than double the base price established by the government,
which was $434,000 million. The operation was concluded after
an intense bidding process in which Davivienda, Banco de Bogotá,
and Banco Colpatria also participated.
• 20,279 JOBS IN RURAL AREAS: the
purpose of this program, coordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture,
is to support the
strengthening and creation of rural micro-enterprises, as an
alternative that can not only generate employment but also create
sustainable income for the peasant families of the country. From
August to December 2002 the initiative fomented the creation
of 815 jobs. During 2003 the Project for Support to the Development
of Rural Micro-enterprises created 7,568 jobs, in 2004 it created
6,394, and in 2005 it has created 5,502 jobs year-to-date. The
goal this year is to generate 7,500 jobs, and the goal for 2006
is for an equal number. By the end of the four-year term the
goal is to have created 26 thousand new jobs in the poorest rural
regions of Colombia.
• UNEMPLOYMENT IN SEPTEMBER WENT
DOWN FROM 12.5% TO 11.2%: the national unemployment rate last
September went down compared
to the same period in 2004, according to DANE. The reduction
in unemployment between September 2004 and September 2005 means
that 631,383 new jobs were created during that year.
• 946 THOUSAND CHILDREN RECEIVE
BREAKFASTS: the breakfasts were delivered by the ICBF (Colombian
Family Welfare Institute)
with the purpose of decreasing malnutrition rates among children
from six months to five years of age, and in order to reach the
goal of one million beneficiaries set by the government for the
four-year term. The updated information as of October 2005 shows
that the program fed breakfasts to 322,052 children in 2003,
a figure that grew to 517,598 in 2004. 946,235 children have
been fed this year from an investment of $60 billion pesos coming
from para tax contributions made by companies to the Institute.
• FIRST FUEL ALCOHOL PLANT IN
OPERATION: in Miranda, Cauca, the first of three large production plants
for fuel alcohol was
inaugurated. The three plants are foreseen to be functioning
in the country before the end of the year. The Ardila Lulle Organization
invested $68,000 million, half in civil works and the rest in
environmental and safety processes, equipment, and a water treatment
plant. The distillery uses 1,481 tons daily of raw material from
the Incauca Sugar Mill, and produces 300 thousand liters of alcohol
per day. The fuel alcohol produced oxygenates gasoline in the
southwestern region of the country and in the coffee growing
region.
DEMOCRATIC SECURITY
• 25,000 HECTARES MANUALLY ERADICATED: the 64 Mobile Groups
for Manual Forced Eradication who work in 40 municipalities in
24 Departments eradicated 25,099 hectares of illicit crops in
10 months. The Mobile Eradication Groups from the Anti-illicit
Crops Program at the Presidential Agency for Social Action and
International Cooperation are made up of civilians who are taken
to each eradication zone from other regions to carry out the
work under the protection of the Police and the Army. With just
two months before the conclusion of the year, this year’s
goal of eradicating 30 thousand hectares is approaching completion.
The goal for 2006 is to destroy the illicit crops on 40 thousand
hectares.
• FOREST GUARDS IN HUILA: the government
has disbursed more than $10,000 million pesos so far this year
in eight municipalities
in the north and the south of the Department of Huila, through
the Agrarian Bank. Each one of the 4,614 families has received
$600,000 pesos every two months as part of the Presidential Program
Against Illicit Crops. The Forest Guard Family Program involves
33,137 peasant and indigenous families living in large expanses
of the national territory, which have managed to keep 1,249,960
hectares free from illicit crops. These families now have a legitimate
activity and the accompaniment of the government.
November 4, 2005.
