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Despite lower international prices for some of Colombia’s key cash crops, the agriculture sector ended 2013 posting growth of 5.2%, higher than overall economic growth of 4.7%. Coffee’s 22.3% expansion made it the sector’s shining star in 2013. However, the various challenges the sector faces, in particular increased international competition as a result of a number of recent free trade agreements, led to a series of strikes involving multiple subsectors in the first half of 2013, which culminated with a large-scale national strike mid-year, placing agriculture centre-stage politically. The government of Juan Manuel Santos Calderón, re-elected for a second term in June 2014, has prioritised agricultural development and an increasing budget reflects the government’s commitment to revitalising the sector. Stable growth has continued into the first three months of 2014, with the sector expanding 6.1%. With the possibility of negotiating a peace agreement strengthened by the re-election of Santos, the next decade could see the sector play a more prominent role in the national economy.

As the significantly divergent performances of its various sub-sectors suggest, Colombian industry is at a crossroads. Some sub-sectors have sustained robust growth during the past decade and have developed export channels targeting regional markets. However, other industries have not been able to overcome the number of challenges that nearly all Colombian manufacturers must contend with, in particular high transportation costs and increased international trade which has brought low cost goods to the domestic market. The sector’s contribution to GDP fell from 14% in 2011 to 12% by 2013, prompting the government to implement several programmes to buoy domestic manufacturing. As the cosmetics industry demonstrates, however, opportunities still abound, and there is a place in the regional market for Colombia, a mid-sized exporter, to meet its neighbours’ growing levels of consumer demand. This chapter contains an interview with José Alberto Vélez Cadavid, President, Grupo Argos.

Buoyed by a strengthening of the government’s housing programme, as well as a continued emphasis on improving transport infrastructure across the country, Colombia’s construction sector is well positioned for growth over the coming years. The sector grew 9.8% in 2013, considerably more than the 3.6% increase seen in 2012, accounting for 6.5% of GDP in 2013, according to BBVA Bank. Driven by demand for housing and a mounting construction sector, the real estate sector is also experiencing healthy growth. According to the Colombian Federation of Real Estate, the sector accounted for 8% of GDP in 2013, with real estate services generating a value of $9.8bn, a 3.2% increase on 2012 figures. As the housing stock is absorbed by high demand and a well-structured mortgage system, fears of an impending bubble have so far been exaggerated. This chapter features an interview with Luis Felipe Henao Cardona, Minister of Housing and Social Development.

Colombia’s transport sector is set to undergo significant expansion in the next few years, much of which is owed to the current flagship fourth-generation road concession programme. The development of land transportation networks has become a top priority as the National Infrastructure Agency aims to increase roads under concession from 6000 km to 11,000 km, revitalise the aged railway network and raise rail lines under operation from 900 km to more than 2000 km. Expansion of port infrastructure, which has already benefitted from successful public-private concessions, will also make the country better equipped to deal with rising cargo inflows stemming from enhanced trade. Meanwhile, the increasing number of travellers is spurring improvements in air transport. While the current model for public-private partnerships presents some challenges as a means to attract foreign direct investment, government efforts to improve access to financing and ultimately increase interest in road concessions continue. This chapter contains interviews with Cecilia Álvarez-Correa, former Minister of Transport; Luis Fernando Andrade, President, National Infrastructure Agency; and Eleuberto Antonio Martorelli, President, Odebrecht Colombia.

With vast coal, gold and other mineral reserves, Colombia continues to be one of Latin America’s leading mining countries. The sector has expanded significantly in the past decade, with the last two governments emphasising its importance to the national economy and courting foreign investment. However, in recent years falling commodity prices have stalled development projects, while strikes, guerrilla attacks and government sanctions have interrupted production. Exports of coal, the dominant component of Colombian mining, fell 4% in tonnage and a 14.3% in value to $6.7bn in 2013 compared to the previous year. Gold, the second-biggest mining segment, with exports of $2.3bn in 2013, was down by a third from 2012. Nonetheless, as the security situation improves, opening up new areas to geological analysis, Colombia’s strong institutions, protection of investors, extensive reserves and competitive royalty rates should continue to attract significant interest in the mining industry. This chapter features an interview with Ken Kluksdahl, President, AngloGold Ashanti Colombia.

In the past 10 years, Colombia has emerged as one of Latin America’s leading hydrocarbons producers. With just over 1m barrels per day of production in 2013, Colombia trailed only Mexico, Venezuela and Brazil in the region. On a relative basis, natural gas production, at 1.2bn cu feet per day, is more modest, but has also grown every year but one since 2003. With one of the lowest reserves-to-production ratios among the world’s major oil producers, the sector’s primary problem is limited reserves. The industry has begun exploring new unconventional hydrocarbons resources such as shale oil and gas, offshore oil and gas, and coal-bed methane, all of which have the potential to become significant sources of new revenue for the industry. With stable production from conventional sources and expanding opportunities in unconventional and offshore blocks, Colombia’s energy sector appears poised to sustain at least moderate levels of growth. This chapter contains interviews with Javier Gutiérrez, President, Ecopetrol; and Javier Betancourt, President, National Agency of Hydrocarbons (ANH).