One of the scourges that has undoubtedly reduced the dynamism of economic growth in Colombia is war, a problem that has been experienced for more than half a century and has been felt more strongly in remote regions. where the absence of the State has been taken advantage of by organizations outside the law.
Although the origin of the armed conflict in Colombia was political, with the bipartisan strugglethe passing of the years has led to its accentuation due to criminal activities such as kidnapping, extortion or drug trafficking; accentuating social inequalities and the lack of opportunities for those who live in this part of the country.
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Although in 2016 a peace agreement was signed with the FARC that allowed the demobilization of a large number of members of that guerrilla, the dissidence that arose after this and the lack of presence of the National Government in the regions with a comprehensive social offer led for the conflict to intensify. However, a recent report maintains that this could be faced with development strategies that bring together the various productive sectors.
In dialogue with Portafolio, Ángela María Vélez, director of the office of the International Center for Private Enterprise – Cipe in Colombia, assured that a report titled “Opportunities and challenges for private investment in Pdet municipalities in Colombia” was recently published, in which is clear that the sector The private sector can be a fundamental ally to bring opportunities to these territories.
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“Private investment in Pdet municipalities will be essential for the construction of a sustainable environment, where the production of public goods, economic integration and legal security promote the growth of communities. It is necessary that national and international companies and entities join the effort to transform the regions and contribute to the social and economic development of Colombia,” he explained.
In the report, developed together with Fedesarrollo, five fronts on which work can begin right now, which range from investment routes to what they called differential economic development, taking into account that these territories have very different geographical, cultural and economic conditions from each other, despite who are in the same country.
“The Pdet territories become favorable terrain not only to take advantage of the natural resources of companies, but because there is a workforce available to become qualified and work for companies in different areas of the country taking advantage of the resources they have. This is a starting point that can be reviewed carefully,” said Vélez.
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The Cipe spokesperson added that “the first element of opportunity is to have nodes that allow entire regions to be developed. So, for example, in the case of Ocaña (Norte de Santander), which is not a Pdet municipality, it could connect all the municipalities of Catatumbo to enhance all the economic capacities that the region has, be the vehicle to boost the economy, to get products out and to sell them to other markets.”
On the other hand, they explained that the updating and formalization of land is crucial to boost private investment, with planning policies that guarantee ownership and promote agricultural and livestock production; highlighting that this is particularly relevant in areas of great biodiversity and with a predominance of ethnic communities, where formalization and security in land tenure are priority factors.
PDET.
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“The issue of works for taxes is an issue that also seems fundamental to me because, as I have mentioned before, it is a project, it is a tool, which is not only useful for the company to pay the rent, but it is a mechanism that has proven to be effective because it takes advantage of the project planning and execution capabilities. of the private sector for the benefit of the region in which it is located, for example, in infrastructure issues,” Vélez told Portafolio.
Based on this, Cipe was emphatic that it is not about throwing all responsibility into the hands of the private sector, nor believing that the State can alone take the reins of social change. On the contrary, they explained that social transformation requires all the ideas that can be presented, which is why they insisted that teamwork is needed.
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“In managing development in conflict zones, important progress has been made, but there is much room for improvement. In that sense, the first thing that must be said is that the policy of development programs with the territorial approach that the peace agreement provided for is a policy that ends in two and a half years. It’s not enough time, That means that it must be extended, and in fact there is a bill for that issue,” they warned.
The spokespersons for the International Center for Private Enterprise in Colombia also stated that if you want to have better results, you must not overlook that prioritization is essential, since there are many initiatives underway and trying to make them all move forward on time can be counterproductive. .
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Having 33,000 projects and expecting them to be executed well is very difficult. So you have to put a little prioritization, strategy and connection for it to really be effective, highlighting that it is very important to structure the projects well. Understanding that regions are not equal and that we must thoroughly understand elements such as their social dynamics, if we really want change,” said Ángela María Vélez.
The report closes by pointing out that the lack of basic infrastructure and security are limitations for investment in Pdet municipalities; while highlighting that mechanisms such as Tax Works and the Entrepreneurship Law could improve investment conditions, accelerating social impact projects in these areas.
“If this goes well, we are talking about more than 7 million Colombians in 170 municipalities being benefited, which is not a minor fact if we take into account that the country these days, for example, has looks at the development of economic reactivation strategies in which the regions can contribute,” they concluded.
