COLOMBIA, ATTRACTIVE FOR BUSINESS

In the previous measurement of the Doing Business 2017, Colombia was in the fourth position, below Mexico, Chile and Peru. Today, Mexico remains the first, and Colombia, the only Pacific Alliance country that improved its position, is second.

The fourteenth edition of Doing Business 2017, "Equal Opportunities for All," revealed that Colombia was the only Pacific Alliance country that improved its position with respect to last year and became the second state of Latina, after Mexico, Where there are better conditions for doing business.

In the previous measurement, Colombia was in the fourth position, below Mexico, Chile and Peru. Today, Mexico remains first, Peru third and Chile fourth. Daniel Velandia, director of research at Credicorp, said that the new ranch may be due not only to the country's macroeconomic strengthening, but to the political and economic uncertainty that Chile and Peru have experienced in the last eighteen months.

However, Velandia acknowledged that credibility in the institutions, the pro-market attitude promoted by the Government and the improved security conditions that Colombia has had in this period contributed significantly to the country receiving a score of 70.92 points.

Globally, Colombia rose from 54th out of 189 countries in 2016 to 53 out of 190 that were measured this year. For the third time in a row, it consolidated its position as the second largest economy in the world. Credit for the business fabric, surpassed only by New Zealand.

The report analyzes ten areas of a company's life cycle and emphasizes the categories that determine the ease of starting new business. According to the study, the country improved in five of the variables measured, had a decrease in four and in one maintained the same position of the previous year.

For example, in the Aperture category of a company, Colombia became the first country in the region to reach position 61, while Mexico, Peru and Argentina occupied positions 93, 103 and 157, respectively. The report highlights that Colombia made it easier to start a business by reducing registration procedures, from 8 to 6 procedures and from 11 to 9 days for the opening of a company. According to the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, María Claudia Lacouture, these measures prompted the opening of 138,786 companies between May and September 2016, 14.7% more than in the same period of 2015, where there were 120,921 new companies.

The Doing Business 2017 acknowledged that Colombia is the country that has made the most reforms to protect creditors and facilitate credit for small business owners. Lacouture said that Opportunity Banking and Bancóldex, disbursed nearly six billion pesos between January and September this year and have benefited 95,452 businesses. "The country's goal is to increase business productivity by 15% by 2018. These results indicate that we are on a solid path and that we have to continue to strengthen companies to generate added value and insert ourselves into global value chains."

Taken from: http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/economia/colombia-atractivo-hacer-negocios-articulo-662209