Agency Credits Castro’s Tenure With 57 Projects From 25 Countries

Juan Carlos Castro Lozano has left the post of executive director of Invest Pacific, the investment promotion agency for Cali and the Valle del Cauca department, after three years in the role, from October 2023 to October 2026. The agency’s board of directors named Mauricio Concha Rivera, Invest Pacific’s director of investments, as acting executive director while it completes the process of appointing a permanent successor, Invest Pacific announced on October 6, 2026.

The announcement did not give a reason for Castro’s departure, did not say what position he would take next and set no timeline for the permanent appointment.

Invest Pacific is a nonprofit whose board seats are held by representatives of the Cámara de Comercio de Cali (Cali Chamber of Commerce), the Gobernación del Valle del Cauca (Valle del Cauca Governor’s Office), the Alcaldía de Cali (Cali Mayor’s Office), ProPacífico and independent members, according to the agency’s website.

57 Projects in Three Years

During Castro’s tenure, Invest Pacific says it supported the arrival or expansion of 57 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects by 53 companies from 25 countries, spread across 11 of the department’s municipalities. The agency puts their combined value at $646 million USD and says they created 6,338 direct jobs.

More than 260 companies with foreign capital operate in the department, according to the announcement, which says their sales equal 21% of regional GDP and that they account for 35% of the department’s exports.

In September 2023, shortly before Castro arrived, Invest Pacific, ProColombia and Cali’s Secretaría de Desarrollo Económico (Economic Development Department) led a delegation to San Francisco and Los Angeles to court technology and business-services investors.

Castro’s Background in Industry and Investment Promotion

Castro, a Cali native, has a background in industry, trade associations and the public sector. According to Invest Pacific’s announcement of his appointment, he previously directed the cosmetics and household-cleaning chamber of ANDI (Asociación Nacional de Empresarios de Colombia, or National Business Association of Colombia), held government-relations and sustainability roles at 3M (NYSE: MMM; NYSE Texas: MMM; SIX: MMM) and Unilever (LSE: ULVR; NYSE: UL; Euronext Amsterdam: UNA), and served in leadership positions in FDI promotion at the Agencia Nacional de Hidrocarburos (National Hydrocarbons Agency).

In his farewell statement, Castro said that returning to his city to lead Invest Pacific had been one of his greatest aspirations, and he thanked the partners, business owners, investors, government leaders and institutions that worked with the agency.

“The achievements reached are the result of a collective effort that will keep generating impact in Valle del Cauca for many more years.”

— Juan Carlos Castro Lozano, outgoing executive director, Invest Pacific

Valle Verde, Cali Home4Tech and a COP16 Forum

Invest Pacific says it strengthened its Valle Verde narrative during Castro’s tenure. The narrative promotes the department as a sustainable-investment destination, and the agency says it became one of the strategic pillars of the departmental Plan de Desarrollo (Development Plan). Cali Home4Tech, a narrative and brand for the city, was launched on September 30, 2025, at the Cali Chamber of Commerce, according to the agency’s 2025 annual report; the October announcement says it aims to present Cali as an international technology hub with strengths in sectors such as HealthTech, AgriTech and ClimateTech. The agency’s Green Business Forum, held during the COP16 United Nations biodiversity conference in Cali in late 2024, drew 408 attendees, more than 45 international and Colombian experts and more than 20 sponsors, according to Invest Pacific.

SAF and Circular-Economy Studies

The agency obtained technical assistance from the European Union’s Global Gateway initiative for a prefeasibility study of a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant in Valle del Cauca. According to the 2025 annual report, the study by consultants Johan Martínez and Edgar Castillo concluded that such a plant would be technically viable and a strategic opportunity for the region in the energy transition, but that its economic viability would require public incentives and a regional governance framework to consolidate the supply chain and secure offtake agreements. It recommended alcohol-to-jet technology and a phased feedstock strategy that starts with first-generation ethanol from the region’s sugarcane industry and moves to second-generation ethanol made from agricultural residues. The SAF study’s results were presented to companies in the production chain on October 23, 2025.

A separate technical-cooperation arrangement with IDB Invest covers what the agency describes as two studies on the circular economy and the energy transition. The annual report lists their components as prefeasibility studies for a chemical plastics-recycling plant and a plant to recover construction and demolition waste, along with a study of the department’s energy demand. It says a consulting firm was selected and execution began in 2025, with results expected after the first quarter of 2026. The October announcement did not say whether those results have been delivered.

The announcement values the EU and IDB Invest technical assistance at $140,000 USD. The 2025 annual report gives the same $140,000 USD figure for the technical assistance Invest Pacific received in 2025.

Where a Child Is Born Still Shapes How Far They Can Go in Colombia

We like to believe that opportunity is about talent, effort and ambition. We tell children to dream big. We tell young people that education can open doors. We tell communities that their future is in their hands. But what happens when the number of doors available to you depends, in part, on where you were born?

In Colombia, geography still shapes opportunity. In 2025, 22.4% of people living in populated centers and dispersed rural areas were experiencing multidimensional poverty, compared with 6.3% in urban county seats, according to Colombia’s National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE.

The gap becomes even more striking when we look at education. Among young people between 17 and 21 years old, 44.7% of those living in urban areas had reached higher education in 2025. In populated centers and dispersed rural areas, the figure was 16%.

Talent is everywhere. Opportunity isn’t. This is not about saying that one place has more ambitious people than another. It is about recognizing that ambition needs conditions to grow. A child can have extraordinary talent and still face a very different path if their school lacks the infrastructure, resources, connectivity or opportunities that another child takes for granted.

And this is where I keep thinking about Macondo. Not the Macondo of Gabriel García Márquez, but a real community in Colombia where children are growing up, learning and imagining their futures. There is a school there that needs to be rebuilt.

At first glance, rebuilding a school might seem like a small intervention when compared with the scale of Colombia’s rural education gap. And it is. A new roof will not solve rural poverty. A renovated classroom will not fix decades of inequality. A school cannot, by itself, transform a country’s education system.

But I have learned that this does not make the intervention less important. It makes it more human. Because for the child who walks through that door tomorrow, the school is not a statistic. It is their classroom. Their meeting place. The place where they learn to read, ask questions, discover what they are good at and perhaps begin to imagine a life beyond the limits of the geography they were born into.

This is one of the places where I believe philanthropy has an important role to play. Philanthropy cannot — and should not be expected to — replace the responsibility of the State or solve structural inequality on its own.

But philanthropy can move with purpose. It can direct resources toward places that have historically received less. It can support communities while larger systems take the time they need to change. It can help create the conditions for opportunity to exist today, while we continue working toward the structural solutions that will make those opportunities more equal tomorrow.

“Geography should tell us where someone comes from — not how far they can go.”

— Mónica Gil Ryan

We don’t have to choose between fixing the system and helping someone today. We need to do both. That is why we are inviting people to help rebuild this school in Macondo. Not because one school will solve Colombia’s rural education challenges. But because one school can change what is possible for the children who learn there.

And perhaps that is where we should rethink the meaning of impact. Sometimes impact is measured in the size of a program, the number of people reached or the amount of capital invested. Sometimes it is much simpler. It is a child sitting in a safe classroom. A teacher who has the conditions to teach. A family that knows their community’s children have a place to learn. A young person who begins to believe that their future does not have to be limited by where they were born.

Geography should tell us where someone comes from — not how far they can go. While we continue working on the bigger question of how to make opportunity more equal across Colombia, we can also act where we are able to act today.

We can rebuild this school. We can invest in a place where opportunity begins. And we can remind these children that their future is worth investing in.

If you want to be part of rebuilding the school in Macondo, you can contribute here: Caring for Colombia Foundation. Because sometimes changing the geography of opportunity begins with changing one place.

Follow the conversation:
LinkedIn: Mónica Gil Ryan
Instagram: @monicagilryan

Headline photo: Students in the rural school in Macondo that ONE Social Investment is raising funds to rebuild. (Photo courtesy ONE Social Investment)

Carry Trade and IMF Talks May Cap a Dollar-Driven Peso Sell-off

The Colombian peso weakened 2.9% against the US dollar in September 2026, closing the month at 3,307.50 COP per dollar, 92.50 COP above its August close, according to the Monthly Foreign Exchange Market Report published October 6 by Bancolombia‘s Economic, Industry & Market Research Area. Bancolombia is the Colombian banking subsidiary of Grupo Cibest (NYSE: CIB; BVC: CIBEST, PFCIBEST), the holding company formed in 2025. The report, signed by Manuela Bernal, regional analyst; José Luis Mojica, macroeconomic manager; and Laura Clavijo, chief economist, attributed most of the depreciation to a more hawkish stance from the US Federal Reserve, which strengthened the dollar against most of the world’s currencies. The peso’s losses were concentrated in the second half of the month.

September extended a reversal that began in late August. The peso surged 7.5% in July, then weakened 1.8% in August to close at 3,215 COP after the government of President Abelardo de la Espriella disclosed a sharply wider fiscal deficit in its 2027 National Budget. In September, the exchange rate’s lowest daily close was 3,085 COP, in the first half of the month, and its highest was 3,362 COP, in the final week, according to closing-rate data in the report.

A Rate Increase in Washington and a Stronger Dollar

At its September 16 meeting, the Federal Reserve raised the target range for the federal funds rate by a quarter percentage point to 3.75% to 4.00%, in a 12-0 vote, its first increase since July 2023, as Finance Colombia reported after the decision. The Federal Open Market Committee said in its statement: “Inflation remains elevated. Today’s policy action will support a timelier return to the Committee’s 2 percent goal.” The statement also cited geopolitical developments as a source of elevated uncertainty, and Bancolombia’s analysts tied the persistence of US inflation to the conflict in the Middle East. The report also cited revised US data. First-quarter growth was revised up from 2.1% to 2.5% at a seasonally adjusted annual rate and second-quarter growth from 1.5% to 2.2%, while the September Composite PMI came in at 58.4, its strongest reading since July 2021. As a result, the probability of another 25-basis-point Fed increase in October rose above 70%, the report said.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the dollar against a basket of major currencies, gained 2.0% in September. In Bancolombia’s comparison of selected currencies, the Mexican peso depreciated 6.4% against the dollar, the Swedish krona 4.5% and the Chilean peso 4.1%. The Colombian peso’s decline measured 2.2% in that comparison, which draws on a different data source from the 2.9% figure, according to the report’s source notes, and was roughly in line with the euro and the British pound. The Brazilian real and the Japanese yen were the only currencies in the comparison to gain ground.

Lower local dollar liquidity added to the pressure, according to the report. The net spot foreign currency position of Colombia’s foreign exchange market intermediaries turned negative on September 9 for the first time this year and stood at -$634 million USD as of September 13, according to data from the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia (Financial Superintendency of Colombia) compiled by Grupo Cibest. Bancolombia estimates the position stayed negative through the second half of the month and approached -$810 million USD, which the analysts said suggests liquidity pressures persisted.

A Split Vote at the Central Bank

On September 30, the board of the Banco de la República (Bank of the Republic), Colombia’s central bank, raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 12.25%, according to the bank’s statement. Four directors voted for the increase, two voted to hold the rate unchanged and one voted for a 50-basis-point increase. The decision ran counter to both Bancolombia’s forecast and the market consensus, which had anticipated a hold, according to the report; earlier in September, Bancolombia’s economists had expected the rate to stay at 12%. The meeting was the first rate decision in which the De la Espriella government participated, through Miguel Gómez, head of the Ministerio de Hacienda y Crédito Público (Ministry of Finance and Public Credit), Vanguardia reported. At the bank’s post-meeting press conference, Gómez explicitly backed the majority position and a continued commitment to the inflation target, according to Bancolombia.

The board’s minutes set out the three positions. The directors in the majority cited several factors, among them: “headline inflation has continued to rise, reaching levels more than twice the inflation target,” and “expectations continue unanchored from the 3% target, even over longer horizons.” The two directors who favored a hold argued that monetary policy was already highly contractionary, with an ex post real interest rate close to 6%, and they warned: “a considerable interest rate differential relative to advanced economies still encourages carry trade operations that contribute to pressure for peso appreciation.” The director who sought a larger increase argued: “waiting does not eliminate the cost but rather shifts it, and may ultimately increase it.”

Annual consumer inflation reached 6.24% in August, according to the Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística (National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE), and inflation excluding food, one of the central bank’s traditional core measures, reached 6.30%, according to Bancolombia. Analysts’ forecasts for year-end 2026 inflation cited in Bancolombia’s report have climbed to 6.77%, and expectations for 2027 stand at 5.10%, both well above the central bank’s 2% to 4% target range. After the report was published, DANE reported on October 7 that annual inflation rose to 6.29% in September, according to Portafolio.

Colombia Opens Talks With the IMF

In a presidential address on September 27, President De la Espriella said the country’s fiscal situation was the most critical in its history, Publimetro reported. He said he had instructed Gómez and the economic team to lead talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in search of a negotiated way out of the crisis his government inherited.

“Public finances, my fellow citizens, can’t take any more. The balance is in the red.”

— President Abelardo de la Espriella, September 27, 2026

The announcement came during a September 25-28 visit to Colombia by IMF Deputy Managing Director Nigel Clarke, who met with Vice President José Manuel Restrepo, Gómez, Banco de la República Governor Leonardo Villar and members of the central bank’s board, according to the IMF’s statement at the end of the visit. The government asked the fund to begin an assessment of the economy and of the new administration’s macroeconomic plans, Bloomberg Línea reported. Clarke wrote in a post on X: “The IMF stands ready to support Colombia and looks forward to continuing our close and constructive dialogue in the weeks ahead.” The IMF said in the statement that prompt and credible steps to narrow fiscal imbalances can bolster confidence, cut borrowing costs and improve conditions for private investment and hiring. The IMF also said a Ministry of Finance delegation would visit Washington the following week to continue the dialogue.

Bancolombia’s report noted that several former finance ministers have suggested an Extended Fund Facility or a Precautionary and Liquidity Line could be appropriate, and that Colombia could potentially access between $15 billion USD and $20 billion USD. Colombia signed a $2.7 billion USD Extended Fund Facility in 1999 and later had Stand-By Arrangements approved in 2003 and 2005, according to Bloomberg Línea. More recently, the IMF suspended Colombia’s access to its Flexible Credit Line in April 2025, and Colombia canceled the credit line in September 2025, under former President Gustavo Petro.

Ministry of Finance figures compiled by Grupo Cibest show the central government deficit at 6.4% of gross domestic product in 2025, with projections of 7.2% in 2026 and a peak of 7.9% in 2027 before narrowing to 3.7% by 2030. Colombia’s five-year credit default swap spread stood at 168 basis points at the end of September, compared with an average of 87 basis points for its regional peers, according to the report.

Oil Rises and Gold Falls

Brent crude rose 14.4% in September to close at $103.53 USD per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate ended the month at $90.42 USD per barrel, up 5.4%, according to the report. Bancolombia attributed much of the move to escalating tensions in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia’s closure and subsequent partial reopening of the East-West pipeline following drone attacks originating from Iraq. The report also cited a late-month announcement of a potential ban on US diesel exports intended to contain domestic fuel prices, which it said placed further pressure on international fuel markets. Gold fell about 6.0% as rising US Treasury yields reduced the appeal of non-yielding assets, the report said.

The October Outlook

Bancolombia expects the exchange rate to trade between 3,190 COP and 3,390 COP in October, against a backdrop of dollar strength, fiscal adjustment announcements and negotiations with the IMF. The bank sees a risk of a weaker peso from further global dollar strengthening, citing a US economy that has proven more resilient than expected and Fed officials’ growing concern about inflation, and it expects both the DXY and Treasury yields to remain elevated during the month. On the technical side, the exchange rate broke above its 50-day moving average in mid-September and reached its 100-day moving average (3,348 COP at month-end) before retreating, leaving that level as key short-term resistance, according to the report. A death cross, with the 50-day average below both the 100-day and 200-day averages, remains in place, although the 50-day average began to flatten in the final sessions of the month, a pattern the analysts said could signal stronger upward pressure on the exchange rate if it continues.

Bancolombia’s analysts wrote that the central bank’s decision could offset part of that pressure: “The hawkish surprise should preserve the attractiveness of carry trade strategies.” They added that investor sentiment toward Colombia could improve as negotiations with the IMF progress. Grupo Cibest’s calculations, based on FocusEconomics forecasts, put Colombia’s real monetary policy rate at about 6.0% at the end of 2026, second only to Brazil’s 8.3% among the six economies in the comparison and well above Mexico’s 2.2%.

Over the longer term, Grupo Cibest forecasts an average exchange rate of 3,417 COP per dollar for 2026 and 3,331 COP for 2027, below the 4,053 COP average recorded in 2025, before a gradual depreciation to 3,756 COP by 2030.

Headline photo: US dollar, euro and other banknotes. (Photo: Image by FilipFilipovic from Pixabay)

Talks cover a plant and parts suppliers, but Mazda has not decided

Colombia’s government has opened talks with Japanese automaker Mazda Motor Corporation (TYO: 7261; OTC: MZDAY) on resuming vehicle assembly in the country, including a possible assembly plant and a role for Colombian parts suppliers, 12 years after Mazda vehicles stopped coming off a Bogotá assembly line. Mauricio Gómez Amín, who heads the Ministerio de Comercio, Industria y Turismo (MinCIT, Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism), met with Mazda representatives in Bogotá on October 8, according to Infobae Colombia. The ministry is conducting the talks together with the trade and investment promotion agency ProColombia.

“We went to Tokyo a few weeks ago and said that we wanted to see Mazda in Colombia. Here they are. Here we are talking with them, opening the country’s doors to them and telling them that we want them back in Colombia,” Gómez Amín said in a MinCIT statement dated October 9.

Mazda has not announced a decision, according to Infobae Colombia. Ángela Patricia López, president of Mazda Colombia, said the company appreciates “the interest expressed regarding the possible participation of Mazda in potential assembly scenarios in Colombia” and that “the opportunities will be studied within the strategic framework of the organization,” La República reported.

According to MinCIT, the meeting explored options for industrial investment, including a possible assembly plant and auto parts production, and the possibility of bringing Colombian companies in as suppliers of accessories, spare parts and components, both for the domestic market and for sales to other countries in the region. The ministry said that any plant would depend on feasibility studies and on decisions Mazda makes. No investment amount, location or timetable has been set, Portafolio reported.

Gómez Amín said the ministry would support Mazda’s evaluation and work on conditions for long-term investment, including legal certainty, physical security and clear rules, according to MinCIT.

“As minister, I am going to do whatever I have to do so that you set up your plant here in Colombia.”

— Mauricio Gómez Amín, minister of commerce, industry and tourism

The Bogotá plant closed in 2014

Mazda vehicles were assembled in Bogotá by the Compañía Colombiana Automotriz (CCA) from 1983 until April 30, 2014, according to Portafolio. By the time of the closure, the plant was using only 30% of its installed capacity and assembling 57 vehicles a day, and its payroll had fallen from 1,600 workers to 500, La República reported. “Sales volumes are not sufficiently in proportion to the plant’s production,” Fabio Sánchez, then president of the CCA, told Portafolio at the time.

In a May 1, 2014, statement, the CCA said the decision to end assembly followed a review of Mazda Motor Corporation’s global competitiveness, after which the automaker concluded that its Colombian business would continue on a model of importing its full lineup, La República reported. On May 23, 2014, Mazda announced that Mazda de Colombia S.A.S. had begun operations to handle imports, sales and after-sales service, according to Portafolio. Mazda’s vehicles sold in Colombia currently come from Japan and México, Infobae Colombia reported.

The approach began in Tokyo

The October meeting follows Gómez Amín’s August 22 to 27 mission to Tokyo, according to Infobae Colombia. During that trip, the minister met with executives of Mazda, El Tiempo reported. On August 27, he and Toshimitsu Motegi, who heads Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, agreed to instruct their technical teams to continue talks aimed at reactivating negotiations on an Economic Partnership Agreement between the two countries, MinCIT said. Those negotiations formally opened in December 2012 and have never reached signature, as Finance Colombia reported in September.

President Abelardo de la Espriella referred to the Mazda effort in a televised address on August 30. “We are working, for example, so that Mazda can assemble vehicles in Colombia again,” he said, according to Infobae Colombia.

MinCIT placed the Mazda talks within the Misión Crecer (Growth Mission), the government’s strategy to accelerate gross domestic product growth and attract domestic and foreign investment. Vice President José Manuel Restrepo presented the strategy’s first four fronts to de la Espriella, Portafolio reported on September 16. The strategy coordinates 10 ministries, and the government’s target is 6% growth, according to Portafolio. The four fronts are incentives and legal stability arrangements for investors, a bank of high-value-added investment projects, regulatory simplification, and labor productivity and formalization.

A skeptical view on the market’s size

José Clopatofsky, director of Motor magazine, called the idea “improbable” in an interview with El Tiempo and said “Colombia’s market is too small to support an additional plant.” He said almost no brand faces a tax burden for selling its cars in Colombia, which favors importing over producing locally.

Colombia registered 213,377 new vehicles between January and August 2026, up 42.1% from the same period of 2025, according to figures from the Asociación Nacional de Empresarios de Colombia (ANDI, the National Business Association of Colombia) and the Federación Nacional de Comerciantes Empresarios (Fenalco, the National Federation of Merchants and Business Owners) cited by El Tiempo.

Headline photo: Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism Mauricio Gómez Amín (center) with representatives of Mazda and ProColombia in Bogotá. (Photo courtesy MinCIT)

MinTIC’s digital-ecosystem tour reaches Leticia for the first time

About 950 people took part in the two-day Colombia 5.0 gathering in Leticia, the capital of the Amazonas department, on September 30 and October 1, 2026, according to the Ministerio de Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones (Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies), or MinTIC. It was the first time the ministry’s traveling meeting of Colombia’s digital ecosystems had been held in Leticia, and the program closed with a hackathon in which 10 teams from the region competed.

The winning solution was a mobile application available in five native languages, which MinTIC described as a tool to give the region’s products more visibility and to build partnerships with government entities. The ministry’s account of the event did not name the team, the application or the five languages.

Teams were asked to develop a business model with a value proposition that combined technologies including artificial intelligence, chatbots and data from the region. In its announcement before the event, MinTIC said the hackathon had been designed around a specific regional problem: the competitive barriers that ethnotourism and ecotourism ventures run by indigenous communities in Leticia face against traditional agencies. Canal Trece, the ministry’s partner on Colombia 5.0, described the brief before the event as a technical challenge to design solutions with artificial intelligence focused on ecotourism, ancestral languages and the environment.

Local Projects and a Kids Zone

The gathering included a showcase of projects, startups and technology-based companies from the region. One was Niconga, gamified educational software for mathematics, reading and writing, and English from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Amazonia (National University of Colombia, Amazon campus). The Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia (National Open and Distance University) set up a space for virtual experiences and artificial intelligence, and UDR Leticia showed a Lego robot prototype called MEGO Bailarín (MEGO Dancer). TecnoSelva, a student interest group at the Escuela Normal Superior (Higher Normal School), presented robotics and 3D-printing projects and sustainable solutions for the region.

In the Zona Kids (Kids Zone), 70 children took part in hands-on activities in computational thinking, educational robotics and programming, according to MinTIC.

Training at SENA

The in-person program was held at the Los Lagos campus of the Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje (National Learning Service), or SENA, in Leticia. MinTIC said sessions over the two days covered cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, digital skills and data governance, with content aimed at both the public and private sectors. The program the ministry published beforehand listed the hackathon, 11 workshops and nine conferences, including an October 1 keynote on digital sovereignty by Ramprakash Ramamoorthy, director of AI research at Zoho Corp.

Ahead of the event, Andrés Galindo, MinTIC’s acting director of digital economy, said the Leticia agenda would combine knowledge of artificial intelligence and skills development with “immersive experiences designed to solve real challenges of the community and local commerce,” in remarks published by Canal Trece.

“We want everyone, regardless of their level of knowledge or the role they play, to be able to access technology and make it their own.”

— Andrés Galindo, acting director of digital economy, MinTIC

Part of a National Route

MinTIC launched Colombia 5.0 in March 2026 as the successor to Colombia 4.0, with gatherings planned in 11 departments, a count that included Bogotá. “We evolved from Colombia 4.0 to Colombia 5.0 not merely as a change of name: it is the consolidation of a digital hub and ecosystem that connects the state, academia, companies, entrepreneurs and communities, to close gaps, generate opportunities and strengthen employability,” Carina Murcia, then minister of information and communications technologies (ICT), said at the launch.

The program has continued since President Abelardo de la Espriella took office on August 7, 2026, with Alexandra Falla Zerrate as ICT minister. The schedule on the official Colombia 5.0 site shows stops in Yopal, Casanare, on August 27 and 28, and in the Ciudad Bolívar district of Bogotá on September 24 and 25, before Leticia. The schedule now lists all 11 departments named at the launch as having hosted a gathering. The next stop is the Bosa district of Bogotá, on October 22 and 23 at a campus of the Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas (Francisco José de Caldas District University), and MinTIC said two support sessions are planned in Cúcuta and Popayán.

According to MinTIC’s midyear tally, the first eight stops of 2026 drew 27,460 in-person and virtual participants, and their hackathons brought together 475 participants in 139 teams. The ministry said at the time that Amazonas, Vichada and Casanare had never hosted an event of this kind.

Headline photo: Attendees pose behind large COL5.0 letters alongside a humanoid robot and a four-legged robot in Leticia. (Photo courtesy MinTIC)

Groups cite 167 Tcf of source-rock gas against 1.7 Tcf proven

Four Colombian industry and professional associations said on October 7, 2026, that the recoverable prospective resources in the country’s unconventional reservoirs amount to about 97 times its proven natural gas reserves and 4.1 times its proven oil reserves, and called for the drilling needed to establish how much of that volume can actually be produced. The statement came from the Asociación Colombiana del Petróleo y Gas (Colombian Petroleum and Gas Association, ACP), the Cámara Colombiana de Bienes y Servicios de Petróleo, Gas y Energía (Colombian Chamber of Oil, Gas and Energy Goods and Services, CAMPETROL), the Asociación Colombiana de Geólogos y Geofísicos de la Energía (Colombian Association of Energy Geologists and Geophysicists, ACGGP) and the Asociación Colombiana de Ingenieros (Colombian Association of Engineers, ACIEM). It followed the October 1 launch of the Ciclos Regionales de Conocimiento del Subsuelo (Regional Subsurface Knowledge Cycles), a series of technical reviews of the country’s sedimentary basins run by the Agencia Nacional de Hidrocarburos (National Hydrocarbons Agency, ANH).

The associations attribute their figures to ANH work they identify by two titles, “Yet to find evaluation for conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons in Colombian basins” and “Yet-to-Find hydrocarbon volume in Colombia.” The same four groups organize the IX Cumbre del Petróleo, Gas y Energía (Ninth Oil, Gas and Energy Summit), scheduled for November 4 to 6 in Cartagena, and they said the gap between potential resources and usable reserves will be one of its central themes. They said the summit will also discuss geological information, applied research, workforce skills, innovation and new technologies, and rules for evaluating each project’s viability.

What the ANH Is Reviewing

ANH President Ernesto Forero opened the cycles on October 1 and presented them as part of the government’s effort to restart exploration. “Following the mandate of President Abelardo de la Espriella, we are starting these Subsurface Knowledge Cycles with a clear purpose: to recover exploration activity in order to add new reserves and create the conditions to increase national oil and gas production,” Forero said, according to the agency.

The ANH said that after the opening session, four further technical sessions will cover the boundaries of the areas evaluated; a review of the geological information behind them, including wells and interpreted seismic; the identification of leads; and, where each area allows, preliminary volume estimates. The launch included an updated assessment of the potential in source-rock and other unconventional reservoirs in the Middle Magdalena Valley, Cesar-Ranchería, Eastern Cordillera, Catatumbo and Upper Magdalena Valley basins. The agency said those figures are prospective resources that should not be read as proven reserves or as assured production, and that the Caribbean offshore remains among its areas of exploration interest.

In a September 29 announcement, the ANH said the cycles carry no contractual commitments or advance decisions on awarding areas, and that they do not replace participation processes, consulta previa (prior consultation), environmental licensing or the powers of other authorities. The agency said it is preparing for promotion and area-assignment phases planned for 2027. In Bucaramanga, the ANH said Colombia had held no new area-assignment process since 2021 and that only 59 of 356 existing contracts were carrying out exploration activities, El Frente reported on September 30.

The Estimates, Basin by Basin

Citing the ANH, the associations put Colombia’s prospective resources at up to 1,111 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas and up to 117,623 million barrels of oil, spread across at least five basins. They separately put recoverable prospective resources in unconventional reservoirs at 8,234 million barrels of oil and, for gas, about 167 Tcf, a figure they tie to source-rock reservoirs.

For gas, the associations said the Eastern Cordillera accounts for most of that recoverable estimate, with 118 Tcf, followed by the Middle Magdalena Valley with 30 Tcf, Cesar-Ranchería with 10 Tcf, Catatumbo with 8 Tcf and the Upper Magdalena Valley with 2 Tcf. The associations also offered a more conservative case, in which these resources would at least multiply the country’s gas reserves by nine.

For oil, the Middle Magdalena Valley leads with 4,573 million recoverable barrels, followed by Cesar-Ranchería with 2,450 million, Catatumbo with 595 million, the Upper Magdalena Valley with 448 million and the Eastern Cordillera with 168 million, according to the associations.

“Only with drilling, production tests and real subsurface data will we know how much of that resource can become reserves.”

— Jaime Checa Jiménez, president of the Asociación Colombiana de Geólogos y Geofísicos de la Energía (ACGGP)

Proven Reserves Measured in Years

Those estimates compare with the proven reserves reported in the ANH’s 2025 Informe de Recursos y Reservas (Resources and Reserves Report): 2,020 million barrels of oil, equal to 7.4 years of production, and 1,717 billion cubic feet (1.7 Tcf) of gas, equal to 5.9 years. Measured against the 1,717 billion cubic feet, the associations’ 167 Tcf gas estimate is about 97 times proven reserves. Proven gas reserves fell 16.8% from 2,064 billion cubic feet a year earlier and have fallen 54% since 2018, a decline President de la Espriella pledged to reverse when he took office in August.

Frank Pearl, president of ACP, said: “Colombia has potential in unconventional reservoirs that can significantly expand its horizon of self-sufficiency in both gas and oil, and the responsible thing is to enable their development, with technical rigor, transparency and in dialogue with communities. We welcome the opening of this Subsurface Knowledge Cycle, which will provide clear information to move toward the reactivation of the industry.”

Nelson Castañeda, executive president of CAMPETROL, linked the evaluation to import dependence: “Colombia has the prospective resources, infrastructure, specialized talent and a goods and services industry with the technical capacity to evaluate these reservoirs to the highest standards. Advancing knowledge and evaluation of them is a strategic decision for the country’s energy security: it means developing our potential, strengthening self-sufficiency and progressively reducing dependence on imports.”

From Estimates to Wells

The associations said the next step is to turn estimates into knowledge, since until there is direct information from the subsurface, the country will keep talking about potential resources rather than reserves. Jaime Checa Jiménez, president of ACGGP, said: “Colombia has world-class source rocks, but potential is confirmed not in studies but in the well. Only with drilling, production tests and real subsurface data will we know how much of that resource can become reserves. Every year without generating this information is a year that takes us further from energy security.”

ACIEM framed the issue around employment. “Every project requires drillers, geologists, engineers, technicians and local suppliers, and leaves installed capacity in the regions. The country has already trained that talent; what it needs now are projects where it can work, so that it does not have to look for opportunities outside Colombia,” said Carlos Arturo Cárdenas, national president of ACIEM.

In September, President de la Espriella said his government “fully reopens the path to exploration and to the signing of new contracts,” including fracking, according to Infobae. State-controlled Ecopetrol (NYSE: EC; BVC: ECOPETROL), GeoPark (NYSE: GPRK) and Drummond Energy, the energy unit of coal producer Drummond, have each said they are prepared to pursue unconventional projects, as Finance Colombia reported on October 2 in coverage that also details the legal status of fracking in Colombia.

Headline photo: The National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) launches its Regional Subsurface Knowledge Cycles on October 1, 2026. (Photo courtesy ANH)

Corferias Counts More Than 35,000 Professional Visitors at FIB 2026

The 35th Feria Internacional Industrial de Bogotá (Bogotá International Industrial Fair, FIB) closed October 2, 2026, after five days at Corferias (BVC: CORFERIAS). The fair’s Salón de Negocios (business meetings hall) recorded expected business of more than $11 million USD, according to organizer Corferias. In that hall, more than 60 international buyers met with 314 participating Colombian exporters in more than 685 appointments.

The buyers came from countries including Chile, Ecuador, the United States, Italy, México, the United Kingdom, the Dominican Republic, Switzerland, Venezuela, Perú, Costa Rica and Panamá. In its closing figures, Corferias reported more than 35,000 professional visitors, more than 500 exhibitors from 16 countries and more than 40 technical and commercial activities. Corferias said companies and delegations from markets including India, South Korea, Germany, the United States, China, Turkey and México also took part.

The fair is held every two years, and its 34th edition, held September 23 to 27, 2024, marked the 70th anniversary of its founding, according to Corferias, which was itself founded with the fair. In 2022, the fair was held for the first time since 2018, according to El Tiempo. Corferias lists the Cámara de Comercio de Bogotá (Bogotá Chamber of Commerce) as its parent on its investor relations page.

This year’s edition ran alongside the 13th edition of ColombiaPlast, a plastics, rubber and packaging trade show that opened September 28 with more than 320 exhibitors. A single general-admission ticket covered both shows.

“Beyond showing machines and solutions, this edition made it possible to generate connections, learn about new opportunities and bring Colombian companies closer to technologies that can contribute to their production processes.”

— Lilián Conde, project head, Bogotá International Industrial Fair, Corferias

Automation and Advanced Manufacturing on the Agenda

Exhibitors presented machinery, automation, advanced manufacturing, robotics, artificial intelligence and digital transformation solutions, along with tools, equipment and supplies for a range of production sectors. The fair’s agenda covered artificial intelligence applied to production, robotics and collaborative robots (cobots), automation, predictive maintenance, energy efficiency, traceability, data analysis, advanced manufacturing and 3D printing.

Lilián Conde, project head for the Bogotá International Industrial Fair at Corferias, said the 2026 edition reflects the need for industry to keep connecting with new technologies and with the capabilities required to implement them. In Corferias’ closing report, she said: “FIB 2026 allowed us to bring together in one place the people who are transforming industry: manufacturers, business owners, buyers, experts and technology suppliers. Beyond showing machines and solutions, this edition made it possible to generate connections, learn about new opportunities and bring Colombian companies closer to technologies that can contribute to their production processes. We are closing this edition with new commercial relationships and with the commitment to keep strengthening this space for domestic and international industry.”

Exhibitors Report Sales and Visitor Traffic

Coditeq, a Colombian supplier of industrial coding, labeling and traceability systems, has expanded into inspection equipment. The company has added X-ray inspection systems, optical sorters, dynamic checkweighers, metal detectors and vision systems to its coding and labeling business, according to a September 2026 interview with the trade publication Envapack. Camilo Cuéllar, commercial manager of Coditeq, said in Corferias’ closing report: “We are closing out our participation with pride. We presented our new inspection line, met expectations and reached the goal we set for ourselves. We had more than 350 visits to our stand, which represents 60% in purchases, and that makes us even prouder.”

Monteguez, which distributes machinery for machining, metalworking and injection molding, reported beating its visitor target. A Monteguez representative said in Corferias’ closing report: “It has been excellent in terms of all the clients who have come, who have bought, who have shared. Everything has gone excellently. We had a goal of 500 visitors, and I can tell you that we have exceeded it with more than 800.”

Headline photo: Visitors and exhibitors at an industrial automation stand at the 2026 Bogotá International Industrial Fair. (Photo courtesy Corferias)

Route Planned Before the Quake Now Serves Pereira’s Matecaña Airport

Clic, the Colombian regional airline that flew as EasyFly until 2023, began a daily nighttime direct flight between Bogotá and Pereira on October 1, 2026, the airline said in an announcement earlier this month. Clic also plans direct flights from Pereira to Cartagena and to Tolú during the Christmas and year-end holiday season, and it operates flights between Pereira and Medellín. The Bogotá flight departs from the Puente Aéreo (air shuttle) terminal, T2, at El Dorado International Airport and takes about one hour, according to the airline’s route page.

The Bogotá service began operating at Pereira’s Aeropuerto Internacional Matecaña (Matecaña International Airport) less than two months after the magnitude 7.4 earthquake of August 10 struck western Colombia and shut the terminal to commercial flights. Passenger traffic at Matecaña fell 58% in August from a year earlier because of the damage to the airport, according to Aeronáutica Civil (Civil Aviation Authority, or Aerocivil) figures reported by Portafolio.

Back in Pereira Since August 25

Clic resumed its direct flights between Pereira and Medellín on August 25, with two daily flights planned for the first week and its full scheduled operation set to return on September 1, La República reported. LATAM Airlines Colombia, a unit of LATAM Airlines Group (NYSE: LTM; Bolsa de Santiago: LTM), said it would restart Pereira flights from Bogotá and Medellín on August 26, and Avianca said it would restart Bogotá service the same day and Medellín service on August 27, Finance Colombia reported.

Clic now operates five daily flights between Pereira and Medellín from Monday to Friday and three daily flights on weekends, according to its announcement. Those flights use the Aeropuerto Olaya Herrera (Olaya Herrera Airport), which the airline notes is located in central Medellín.

Seasonal Flights to Cartagena and Tolú

Clic’s announcement does not give dates or frequencies for the Pereira–Cartagena and Pereira–Tolú routes. Its website advertises Caribbean flights for the coming holiday season, from December 18, 2026, to January 18, 2027, with Cartagena service from Pereira, Medellín, Cúcuta, Bucaramanga and Ibagué, and Tolú-Coveñas service from Pereira and Manizales. The airline said the routes are meant to carry traffic in both directions, serving travelers from the Eje Cafetero (Coffee Region) headed to the beach and visitors from the Caribbean coast headed to the Coffee Region.

Clic scheduled Pereira–Tolú flights for last year’s holiday season as well, from December 26, 2025, to January 14, 2026, as part of more than 25,000 seats it planned to offer to Tolú in December and January, La República reported in December 2025.

Clic announced the Bogotá–Pereira route in early August, along with the planned resumption of its Bogotá–Cali route and a new Medellín–Manizales route, Aviación News reported on August 5, 2026, five days before the earthquake. Iván Avilán, Clic’s director of product and sales, said at the time that the routes would strengthen connectivity and boost tourism, competitiveness and regional growth.

“These new routes open more opportunities to travel, do business and discover Colombia.”

— Iván Avilán, director of product and sales, Clic

Portafolio reported in July 2023 that the airline would begin using the Clic name in August of that year. As EasyFly, the carrier flew 48-seat ATR 42 turboprops on a network built around Colombia’s second- and third-tier cities, including a Barranquilla–Valledupar route it said it would reactivate on January 31, 2022, Finance Colombia reported.

Headline photo: A Clic ATR 42-600 in flight near Medellín’s Olaya Herrera Airport.(Photo courtesy Clic)

Sticky Price Pressures Point to a Longer Restrictive Rate Path

Colombia’s annual inflation rate rose 5 basis points to 6.29% in September 2026. Consumer prices climbed 0.37% during the month, above the 0.29% typically recorded for September, according to the September 2026 Inflation Analysis published October 8 by Bancolombia‘s Economic, Industry & Market Research Area. The report said the monthly figure was the highest for a September since 2023. Services contributed 20 of the month’s 37 basis points, or 53% of monthly inflation by Bancolombia’s calculation, and the bank’s economists identified the pass-through from indexation, together with strong demand, as the main drivers of the rise in inflation so far this year.

Bancolombia is the Colombian banking subsidiary of Grupo Cibest (NYSE: CIB; BVC: CIBEST, PFCIBEST). The report was signed by Valentina Guáqueta Sterling, inflation and central bank analyst; Camila Caballero Mercado, intern; Laura Clavijo, chief economist; and José Luis Mojica, macroeconomic manager.

The Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística (National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE) published the September figures on October 7. Prices have risen 5.74% so far this year, according to DANE. The monthly reading came in slightly below the consensus forecast of 0.39%, according to Bancolombia, and close to the bank’s own estimate. The annual rate was the highest since July 2024 and extended an upward trend that began in February, La Silla Vacía reported. That climb paused in July, when annual inflation dipped to 6.03% from 6.14% in June, according to DANE data compiled by Grupo Cibest. In August, annual inflation stood at 6.24%, as Finance Colombia reported last month. The Banco de la República (Bank of the Republic), Colombia’s central bank, targets inflation of 3%, within a range of 2% to 4%.

Rents, Airfares and School Transportation Lead Services

Annual services inflation rose for a second consecutive month to 7.19%, its highest level since November 2024, on a 0.38% monthly increase that compared with a historical September average of 0.24%, according to the report. Bancolombia’s economists linked the increase to continued price adjustments tied to the minimum wage increase and to indexation to the previous year’s inflation. Colombia’s minimum wage rose 23% this year to $1,750,905 COP a month. Price pressures were concentrated in labor-intensive categories and in those subject to annual adjustments, the report said, citing monthly increases in imputed rent (0.48%), actual rent (0.46%), passenger air transportation (12.25%), school transportation (3.29%) and meals at table-service restaurants (0.13%). Movie theaters and live entertainment, travel packages, vehicle insurance, intercity, rural and international transportation, and private dental services made the smallest contributions.

Perishable Food Prices Jump

Annual food inflation rose from 6.13% to 6.79% after a 0.79% monthly increase, well above the September historical average of around 0.27%, according to the report. Under Bancolombia’s classification, food prices have risen 8.05% so far this year. The report attributed the increase mainly to higher prices for perishable foods amid pressures related to El Niño and higher costs. Annual perishable food inflation accelerated to 14.14%, led by fresh vegetables and legumes, potatoes, tomatoes, eggs and fresh fruit. Processed food inflation eased to 4.45%, its lowest level since February 2025, while prices fell for dried legumes, coffee, poultry, pork, and fish and seafood products. DANE’s bulletin shows potato prices up 7.29% and tomato prices up 10.47% in September.

Regulated Prices and Goods Ease

Annual inflation in regulated prices eased for the first time since February, from 6.77% to 6.69%, although it remains above the 5.99% average recorded in 2025, according to the report. Regulated prices rose 0.30% in the month, below the historical September average of 0.52%. Higher tuition for preschool, primary and secondary education, along with higher prices for vehicle fuels and water and sewer services, made the largest contributions. Lower gas and electricity rates and softer increases in waste collection and mandatory vehicle-related fees helped temper the category’s increase.

Goods inflation fell 41 basis points to 2.97%, its lowest level since January, according to the report. Goods prices declined 0.08% in the month, the first negative monthly reading since October 2024, compared with a historical September average of 0.27%. Lower prices for new and used vehicles; gold, silver and jewelry; women’s clothing; audio and video equipment; and personal care products drove the decline, while beer and shandy, household cleaning and maintenance products, uniforms, oral care products, and pharmaceutical and dermatological products posted the largest increases among goods. The report said the appreciation of the Colombian peso helped ease pressure on the prices of imported goods. The peso weakened 2.9% against the US dollar in September but closed the month at 3,307.50 COP per dollar, compared with an average of 4,053 COP in 2025, according to Bancolombia’s monthly foreign exchange report of October 6. Finance Colombia reported in September on Bancolombia’s estimate of how much the peso’s rally has restrained inflation.

Core Measures Ease but Stay Elevated

Core inflation measures now average 6.1%, a level last seen in 2024, according to Bancolombia. Under the central bank’s traditional classifications, the Core-15 measure stood at 6.40% in September, inflation excluding food at 6.22% and inflation excluding food and regulated items at 6.07%, according to the report’s figures. Inflation excluding food declined for the first time in seven months, although it remains above 6.0%; it had reached 6.30% in August, according to Bancolombia’s previous monthly analysis. Bancolombia’s economists said the readings, taken together, show that underlying inflationary pressures are persistent.

Restaurants, Health and Education Top DANE’s Annual Rates

By spending division, DANE’s figures put annual inflation highest in restaurants and hotels at 9.44%, followed by health at 7.79%, education at 7.49%, furniture and household goods at 6.75%, and food and non-alcoholic beverages at 6.74%. Clothing and footwear recorded the lowest rate, at 3.12%. Education posted the largest monthly increase, at 1.43%. By income level, prices for poor households rose 0.41% in September, compared with 0.32% for high-income households, according to DANE. Over 12 months, however, inflation for poor households, at 6.14%, remained below the 6.32% recorded for high-income households.

Bancolombia Holds Its 6.7% Year-End Forecast

Bancolombia said September’s acceleration confirms that convergence toward the inflation target will be slow, and it reiterated its forecast that inflation will end 2026 at 6.7%. The central bank’s board raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 12.25% on September 30 in a split vote, with four directors voting for the increase, two voting to hold and one voting for a 50-basis-point increase.

“A faster return to the central bank’s 2%-4% inflation target range will therefore require maintaining a restrictive monetary policy stance for an extended period.”

— Bancolombia Economic, Industry & Market Research Area, September 2026 Inflation Analysis

Bancolombia expects upward price pressures to persist over the coming months, driven by high indexation, rising labor costs, risks from regulated prices and the impact of El Niño during the second half of 2026. The report said the peso’s appreciation has partially offset higher domestic costs. The bank’s economists added that they believe “the pass-through from the minimum wage increase to goods prices is not yet complete, suggesting that some of these pressures could continue to feed into prices gradually during the final quarter of the year.”

Headline photo: Beans, corn and other grains for sale at a market in Colombia. (Photo: Image by catamejia18 from Pixabay)

One Ticket Will Link Europe and Asia to Colombia’s Regional Cities

LATAM Airlines Colombia, a subsidiary of LATAM Airlines Group (NYSE: LTM; Santiago Stock Exchange: LTM; BVC: LTMCO), and Turkish Airlines (BIST: THYAO; OTC: TKHVY) have signed a codeshare agreement that allows Turkish Airlines to sell, under its own airline code, eight domestic routes operated by LATAM Airlines Colombia. The two airlines announced the agreement in Bogotá on October 5, 2026.

The destinations named in the announcement are Leticia, Montería, Pereira, Pasto, Neiva, Yopal, Riohacha and Ibagué. Passengers traveling with Turkish Airlines between Europe or Asia and Colombia will be able to buy a single ticket to those cities, with the connection to LATAM’s domestic flight made in Bogotá under one reservation, according to the companies. LATAM was scheduled to begin daily Bogotá-Ibagué service on March 31, 2024, Finance Colombia reported in January 2024.

Turkish Airlines carries about 2,000 passengers a month to Colombia, according to the joint announcement. The carriers described the eight routes as an initial phase centered on regional destinations and said they would continue to evaluate further cooperation based on customer needs and market conditions. They did not name any additional routes under consideration.

Erika Zarante, CEO of LATAM Airlines Colombia, said in the announcement that the agreement ties Turkish Airlines’ international operation to LATAM’s domestic network.

“The cooperation with Turkish Airlines strengthens Colombia’s connectivity with strategic markets in Europe and Asia. By integrating its international operation with our domestic network, we facilitate more agile connections and a unified travel experience from Bogotá to different regions of the country and the world.”

— Erika Zarante, CEO of LATAM Airlines Colombia

La República reported in October 2024 that Zarante, then head of the company’s legal department, would succeed Santiago Álvarez Matamoros as CEO on January 1, 2025.

Turkish Airlines began serving Bogotá in May 2016 with three weekly flights from Istanbul, returning via Panama, according to Hosteltur. The airline now operates a daily Istanbul-Bogotá flight with A350-900 aircraft that seat 336 passengers, according to Aviacionline. The A350-900 is built by Airbus (Euronext Paris: AIR; Frankfurt Stock Exchange: AIR; Spanish stock exchanges: AIR; OTC: EADSY). Turkish Airlines, a member of Star Alliance, has a fleet of 552 passenger and cargo aircraft serving 358 destinations in 133 countries, according to the joint announcement.

The two carriers already cooperate in Brazil. LATAM and Turkish Airlines began an interline and codeshare arrangement in December 2023 that gave Turkish Airlines customers connections through São Paulo’s Guarulhos airport to 10 Brazilian cities, according to Passageiro de Primeira. Turkish Airlines added five more routes operated by LATAM Airlines Brasil from Guarulhos in January 2025, according to AeroRoutes.

LATAM Airlines Group’s American depositary receipts returned to the New York Stock Exchange in July 2024, as Finance Colombia reported.

Headline photo: A Turkish Airlines Airbus A350-900 flies over the Bosporus in Istanbul. (Photo courtesy Turkish Airlines)