Horasis Global Summit Comes to Medellín for the First Time in Colombia

Medellín will host the Horasis Global Summit for the first time in November, becoming the third Latin American city — and the first in Colombia — to hold the international conference since it launched in Liverpool, United Kingdom, in 2016. The meeting runs November 10-13, 2026, at Universidad de Medellín, with the bulk of panels, plenaries and keynote sessions concentrated on November 11 and 12.

A press release issued August 12, 2026, by Horasis, the Swiss group that organizes the summit, describes Medellín as Latin America’s second host city, after São Paulo. Horasis’ own published event history lists two prior Brazilian editions before Medellín: Vitória in 2024 and São Paulo in October 2025, the 10th edition of the summit and the largest to date, with roughly 1,000 speakers from 50 countries. Medellín’s edition, the 11th Global Summit, is the first held in a Spanish-speaking country in Latin America.

Organizers expect more than 700 international speakers from 40 countries across five continents, plus a comparable number of Colombian participants. Sessions will run in English, the standard format for Horasis meetings worldwide, and will cover economics, artificial intelligence, health, education, sustainability, technology, investment and international cooperation under this year’s theme, “Building Tomorrow.”

José Manuel Restrepo, who was sworn in as Colombia’s vice president on August 7, 2026, alongside President Abelardo de la Espriella, according to El Tiempo, is listed as guest of honor. Restrepo previously served as Colombia’s minister of commerce, industry and tourism and later as finance minister under former President Iván Duque, and has served as rector of three Colombian higher-education institutions — CESA business school, Universidad del Rosario and Universidad EIA — according to Noticias RCN. He is scheduled to speak at the summit’s grand opening alongside Medellín Mayor Federico Gutiérrez and Horasis chairman Frank-Jürgen Richter.

Richter, who founded Horasis after serving as a director of the World Economic Forum, said the choice of Medellín reflects the city’s transformation. “Holding the Horasis Global Meeting in Medellín represents much more than choosing a venue; it means recognizing a city that has shown that transformation is possible when leadership, innovation, academia and cooperation converge,” Richter said. “Medellín will inspire the world, and at the same time, the world will find in Medellín a space to build shared solutions for the future.”

Dr. Frank-Jürgen Richter is the founder and chairman of Horasis – The Global Visions Community.

Ana María Pineda de Béglé, Horasis’ director for Latin America, is leading the event’s organization. “It’s a unique opportunity for Medellín, Antioquia and Colombia to meet with opinion leaders from around the world, exchange perspectives with them, and form alliances that could extend across Latin America and other continents,” she said.

The summit carries the backing of the Alcaldía de Medellín (Medellín Mayor’s Office), the Cuerpo Consular de Medellín (Medellín Consular Corps), Comfama, the Greater Medellín Convention & Visitors Bureau, ACI Medellín, Fenalco Antioquia, Acopi Antioquia, Corporación Fenalco Solidario, ProColombia, Metro de Medellín and the city’s public and private universities, according to organizers. Horasis has also opened four sponsorship categories for companies and institutions seeking to participate as strategic partners.

The program lists more than a dozen confirmed co-chairs, including Bo Inge Andersson of Ivanhoe IV, Claude Béglé of Symbioswiss, Carlos Creus Moreira of WISeKey, Martín Burt of Fundación Paraguaya and former Zimbabwean minister Sekai Holland. A session titled “Building Colombia’s Global Economic Role,” scheduled for November 11, lists confirmed panelists including Federico Hoyos of Fundación Los 8 Valores, Loren Moss, publisher of Finance Colombia, Daniel Umaña of DUE Capital, Alvaro Soto-Holguin of Neotropico and Judith Vergara of Universidad EAFIT.

A separate session, “Building Medellín’s Innovation Economy,” chaired by Ruta N director Santiago Henao, is set to examine what has made the city’s innovation-district model — anchored by Ruta N since 2009 — distinctive, and what the city still needs in talent, capital or regulation to compete for high-growth companies.

Richter, in the press release, said he hopes the Medellín meeting becomes more than a one-time event. “Through Horasis, the success of Medellín’s social and economic transformation will spread even further, as entrepreneurs and academics from around the world come to share their ideas and solutions to put into practice here,” Richter said. “And hopefully Colombia will become the permanent home of Horasis’ global conference.”

Headline image: Delegates at a previous Horasis Global Summit. (Photo courtesy Horasis)