Foreign direct investment increased 62% in the second quarter of 2021.
The Central Bank reported that Foreign direct investment in Colombia increased by 62% to USD 2.092 billion in the second quarter of 2021, compared to USD 1.291 billion reported in the same period last year.
Foreign portfolio investment increased to USD 5.594 billion in the April-June 2021 period, from USD 4.682 billion recorded in the second quarter of 2020.
Revenues from loans to the public and private and public sector fell to a total of USD 361 million in the second quarter of 2021, from USD 686 million in the same period last year.
During the first half of 2021, foreign direct investment received USD 4,576 million (3.1% of half-year GDP), 0.6% lower than a year earlier.
The distribution by economic activity of foreign direct investment received in the January-June 2021 period was as follows: Financial and business services (26%), mining and oil (21%), transportation and communications (20%), electricity (8%), trade and hotels (8%), manufacturing industry (4%) and the rest of sectors (13%).
Colombia manages new lows in daily COVID cases.
The Ministry of Health and Social Protection confirmed 93 additional death derived from the virus, raising the death toll to 124,567. Bogotá registered the greatest number of deaths (15), followed by the departments of Valle del Cauca (14), Antioquia (13), Tolima (5) and Atlántico (4). Coronavirus cases have been decelerating nationwide since the peak of the third wave on June 26, with 33,596.
The drop in infections comes as the government will expand as of Saturday coronavirus vaccine coverage to minors aged 12 to 14.
The Colombian government signed agreements with the Korean pharmaceutical company SK Bioscience and the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) to help manufacture the coronavirus vaccine GBP510 in 2022. “The agreement is about working together to start a facility in Colombia for vaccine research and development,” stated Health Minister to the Korea’s JoongAng Daily. “The last time Colombia produced vaccines was in 2001, so our main objectives of this trip include technological transfers […] and assessing what kind of projects we can feasibly do together.”
Draft bill to amend the general corporate regime.
Five areas of discussion were considered by the Superintendence of Companies as a baseline for a more adequate and updated corporate regulation: managers regime, protection of shareholders, the role of the fiscal auditor, dissolution and private liquidation and insolvency.
From the proposal to amend the general corporate regime, key issues are now implemented in other bills, such as those related to beneficial owners, offsite meetings, and the cause for dissolution due to non-compliance with the ongoing concern hypothesis.
Before presenting the final proposal, which was approved by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism and the Presidency of the Republic, the text was subject to specific revisions by multiple entities of the national government (so that it would be a truly consensual text) and had contributions from trade associations, some national experts and international entities such as the World Bank.
Now, it is up to Congress to evaluate the proposal and decide if it is going to become a new law.