Bogotá — Two years ago, Colombia’s first leftist president, Gustavo Petro Urrego, came to power in a major shift for a country that had grown accustomed to right-leaning administrations. In those 24 months, two of his economic reforms have been green-lighted, a corruption scandal has implicated some of his closest officials, his son Nicolás Petro has come under investigation by the Attorney General, and the head of state has replaced more than 20 ministers.
Gonzalo Moreno, president of Fenavi (National Federation of Poultry Farmers of Colombia), told Bloomberg Línea: “Unfortunately, we are seeing a general deterioration in the country’s security. In the rural areas, we’re seeing renewed threats to producers in all sectors, attacks on farmers in different regions and extortion demands for the entry of products”.
He emphasized that these scenarios have become prevalent in specific regions, as well as a delay in the implementation of existing public policies due to slow budget execution.
The business representative also highlighted the absence of a clear policy for the agricultural sector, as well as the need for more comprehensive policies across the domestic sphere of production. In particular, there is a need for more clarity on export-related matters.
“Finally, it is essential to maintain current level of protection for entities, such as the ICA (Colombian Agricultural Institute), that ensure the sanitary status of products. This will prevent any politicisation of these entities. “This has been maintained so far. We hope that with the upcoming changes, this line of non-politicisation of entities is not lost,” he added.
In an exclusive interview with this outlet, María Claudia Lacouture, president of Amcham Colombia (Colombian American Chamber of Commerce), highlighted the challenges Colombia has faced in recent years, citing a need for decisive action to navigate the current landscape.
She praised the reduction of the Fuel Price Stabilization Fund (FEPC) deficit, an adherence to international debt payment commitments, the maintenance of fiscal discipline, the downward trend in poverty and improvement in equity, control of inflation, and strong trade relations with the United States.
However, Lacouture also highlighted the impact of contradictory messages from the Executive on economic performance, noting this has led to uncertainty and depleted confidence among national and foreign investors.
She also critiqued the limited space for political dialogue and the lack of congressional consensus on reforms, citing administrative instability, party fragmentation, low budget execution, particularly in investment budgets, and legal insecurity as key challenges.
Lacouture noted a deterioration in physical and legal security, the lack of concrete results and progress in peacekeeping policies, and corruption scandals that have affected the credibility of high government officials.
“For the remainder of the mandate, it is crucial to prioritize all Colombians, separate ideology from necessary actions, promote inclusive policies, guarantee physical and legal security, and demonstrate that Colombia offers the right conditions for investment,” insisted the leader.
Jorge Bedoya, president of the SAC (Society of Farmers of Colombia), emphasized that in his inauguration speech on August 7, 2022, Petro spoke about building a national consensus and engaging in dialogue to work toward that goal.
“Two years later, from the industrial and production business chambers, very little or none of that has been seen. Instead, we’ve seen reforms that were not agreed upon and the unfortunate stigmatization on some occasions of various job creators and production unions”. All of this despite the dialogue that some of Petro’s ministers, who are no longer in office, have had with the private sector, Bedoya mentioned.
He also pointed out that a tax reform with significant revenue allowed for large investment budgets, “but unfortunately, there hasn’t been very good execution. And of course, the widespread insecurity across the entire national territory, a peacekeeping policy that has unfortunately not yielded results, and great uncertainty about what might happen with our economy and the style of governance in the next two years, are some of the marks left by the first two years of President Petro’s government.”
He concluded that for the second half, “we hope that the president’s discourse, regarding dialogue, the search for consensus, and a national consensus for the reforms that are still in progress in Congress, becomes a reality. And, of course, that physical security and legal security, at least for the agricultural sector, which are two fundamental aspects for the development of our activity, finally become a reality.”
Rosmery Quintero, president of Acopi, the union for small and medium-sized enterprises, said that the government’s performance on these fronts could have been much better. “Today, we have a country where, due to the uncertainty generated by so many proposed bills and insistence on completely structural changes, private investment over the last five quarters has decreased, as reported by the DANE (-13.4%), and consequently, this affects employment.”
In this regard, she noted that in June, the country’s unemployment rate stood at 10.3%. “And it must be mentioned that insecurity is one of the factors that the business sector is urgently asking to be resolved.”
Quintero added that quick decisions need to be made, spending should be reduced, budget execution by each Ministry should be accelerated, and there should be no further thoughts on more taxes because the business sector does not have the capacity to support labor reforms that directly impact cost structures, especially SMEs.
“We are convinced that President Gustavo Petro still has time to make different decisions and work differently to achieve better economic and social results together,” concluded the president of Acopi.
