Organized as one of the region’s major technology and business gatherings, ANDICOM 2026 will focus on the theme “Unleashing The Power Of AI,” examining how artificial intelligence is being applied across companies, industries and governments.

The congress will connect technology supply and demand through business meetings, networking opportunities, exhibitions and discussions covering artificial intelligence, digital transformation, cybersecurity, connectivity and emerging technologies.

Dates: September 1–4, 2026
Venue: Las Américas complex & Hotel Faranda Collection, Cartagena

For more information and registration details, visit the official ANDICOM website.

Featured photo: ANDICOM 2025 (Photo provided by ANDICOM)

The proposed legislation would require ride-hailing platforms to register as transportation companies, imposing standards around licensing, insurance, taxation, and labor relations. Proponents argue that the bill addresses longstanding concerns within the traditional taxi sector regarding market competition and safety regulations. However, the move has sparked debate over the potential impact on the flexibility and accessibility that these platforms offer consumers and drivers.

Regulatory Standards and Compliance Requirements

Under the proposed bill, ride-hailing platforms would be obligated to adhere to several compliance measures currently applied to traditional taxi services. Key provisions include mandatory insurance for passengers, licensing for drivers, and vehicle inspections. The bill also proposes a taxation framework, which would require ride-hailing platforms to pay fees comparable to those imposed on traditional taxi companies.

Ride hailing platforms remain popular in Colombia, in part due to the dismal reputation of taxi operators in the capital city of Bogotá.

In a statement, the authors of the bill argued that the proposed regulations are necessary to create a “level playing field” between traditional taxis and ride-hailing services, addressing what they view as an imbalance in regulatory obligations. According to the legislative proposal, these changes are intended to promote fair competition while enhancing passenger safety and accountability.

Impact on Drivers and Labor Standards

The legislation also aims to introduce specific labor standards for drivers working on ride-hailing platforms, potentially affecting how these companies classify their workforce. Current regulations do not mandate formal labor protections for drivers, a point that has been raised in recent debates over the gig economy. If passed, the bill would compel ride-hailing platforms to provide social security and other benefits to drivers, a shift that could impact the platforms’ business models and operational costs.

Representatives from ride-hailing companies have expressed concerns about the proposed labor requirements, arguing that they could limit driver flexibility and reduce earnings. However, labor advocates and some members of Congress maintain that formalizing employment conditions for drivers is necessary to ensure fair treatment and economic security.

Reactions from Industry Stakeholders

The bill has garnered mixed reactions from industry stakeholders. While representatives from Colombia’s traditional taxi sector have welcomed the proposed regulations, citing long-standing concerns over competition and regulatory parity, ride-hailing companies warn that the legislation could hinder service availability and affordability.

Uber, DiDi, and Cabify have each issued statements advocating for a regulatory approach that respects the unique business models of digital platforms. They argue that excessive regulation could reduce consumer choice and increase costs for passengers, potentially undermining the benefits that ride-hailing services bring to urban transportation networks.

The bill’s authors acknowledge these concerns but argue that the regulations are essential for establishing an equitable transportation landscape. They maintain that formal regulation of ride-hailing services will enhance transparency and protect passenger safety.

Legislative Outlook

As the bill moves through Congress, its potential impact on the Colombian transportation sector remains a focal point of discussion. Some lawmakers have suggested amending certain provisions to ease the compliance burden on ride-hailing companies, while others advocate for strict adherence to the proposed standards. The bill’s progress will likely depend on negotiations that balance the interests of traditional taxi operators, ride-hailing platforms, and consumers.

If passed, this legislation would mark a pivotal change for Colombia’s ride-hailing sector, setting a new precedent in Latin America for regulating digital platforms. For now, all eyes remain on Congress as lawmakers weigh the future of ride-hailing services within Colombia’s regulatory landscape.

See also: Nationwide Taxi Driver Protest Against Uber Clogs Roads Across Colombia

According to Superfinanciera, progress is currently being made in a range of areas, including:

• the structuring of the regulatory proposal for its subsequent publication for comments
• covering issues such as the revision of the rules applicable to short selling
• improvement of cash operations through general investment instructions and aggregation of positions
• regulation of the activity of recurring lending of securities
• strengthening of liquidity maker programs
• revision of the conditions for the recognition of known and/or recurring issuers
• conditions for access to issuance and placement programs
• expansion of the scope of the financing of securities activity
• requirements for advisory activity
• harmonization of the issuance of bonds and securities with credit content such as CDTs

For its part, Superfinanciera says it will update some instructions related to the threshold for simplified linkage in low-value intermediation operations and electronic order routing systems, as well as those required to make the national government’s objectives in terms of liquidity and market access viable.

Various stakeholders, in a statement, agreed that the development of the capital market is fundamental for the economic and social growth of the country, and all agents must, from our different roles, actively contribute in order to strengthen it.

Finally, they reiterated the need for private sector agents, especially commercial and investment advisors, to promote among their clients the different business alternatives in the stock market to increase the levels of savings and investment of Colombians.

Representatives from the following agencies and companies all participated in the working session: Superfinanciera, Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, the URF, Banco de la República, the Directorate of National Taxes and Customs (DIAN), the Colombian Stock Exchange (BVC), the Securities Market Self-Regulator (AMV), Asobancaria, Asobolsa, Asofiduciarias, Asofondos, the Association of Financing Companies (AFIC), and the Federation of Colombian Insurers (Fasecolda).

Cardona Delgado, a mechanical engineer by trade who served as Colombia’s national energy director from 2012 to 2013, was officially appointed by Minister of Mines and Energy Germán Arce Zapata on January 18.

According to the ministry, he has “extensive experience” in the sector, serving as an advisor and director both the private and public sector.

Cardona Delgado earned his degree, with a specialization in the regulation of energy and gas from Universidad Externado in Colombia and a master’s degree in sustainable energy engineering from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology. He also graduated from the Colombian military academy Escuela Naval de Cadetes.

“My aim for us in 2018 is to improve the competitiveness of the Colombian economy with the use of renewable energy sources,” said Cardona Delgado.

Photo: Alonso Cardona Delgado, new vice minister, shakes hands with Minister of Mines and Energy Germán Arce Zapata this week in Bogotá. (Credit: Ministry of Mines and Energy)

In addition to domestic red tape, the Bogotá-based financial institution, which has been controlled by Scotiabank since 2012, is looking to AxiomSL’s technology to help ensure it fulfills its minimum capital requirements under the global Basel III framework.

“Since regulators are increasingly requiring full drill-down into the source and demanding access to all levels of data…it was critical to implement a solution that went beyond regulatory requirements and offered additional business benefits, such as leveraging our existing systems and data across the enterprise for risk analytics functions and processes,” said Luis Santiago Perdomo, CEO of Banco Colpatria.

AxiomSL has been growing in Colombia since its arrival in 2015, when it set up operations in Medellín’s Ruta N technology complex along with the assistance of city promotion agency ACI Medellín.

“It is a pleasure to know that foreign companies that come to Medellín are growing and consolidating their businesses not only in the city but in the country,” said Sergio Escobar, director of the ACI Medellín. “That is why we take this good news as our own as well.”

Banco Colpatria offers health insurance, life insurance, and consumer loans, among various other financial services. It joins the many other banks across the world — including Credit Suisse of Zurich, Chartis of the United States, and Banco Sabadell of Spain —that have partnered with AxiomSL on reporting platforms.

Photo: Torre Colpatria in Bogotá. (Credit: Pedro Felipe)

Given that the Santos administration will only be in power until after next May’s new presidential elections, there is much work to be done immediately. So Mejía hit the ground running in his first month and is staying very, very busy from both his Bogotá office and during trips around the country.

On top of the department’s role in planning infrastructure and the nation’s enormous 4G highway and road construction project — and the complications that the region-wide Odebrecht scandal present on that front — Mejía is leading DNP’s regulation overhaul.

Red tape in the country has grown unwieldy over the past two decades. So to cut through the brush, and in line with protocol guiding Colombia’s ambition to join the OECD, the department is evaluating key regulations to decide which can be abandoned due to ineffectiveness or onerous burdens placed on the private sector.

Trade logistics, particularly in terms of speeding up the time for goods through Colombia’s ports, are another high priority. Even compared to other Pacific Alliance countries — Mexico, Peru, and Chile — import and export times can take twice as long in Colombia.

To learn more about these and the DNP’s other objectives, Finance Colombia recently sat with Luis Fernando Mejia. He offered a candid view at the nation’s competitiveness challenges, the cloud of corruption that Odebrecht has created, and the future of regulations in Colombia.

Jared Wade: I know you have been in the agency for some time, but you just recently took over as the head. So to start, can you just explain a little bit about how the overall National Planning Department plan is progressing and what it is that you’re going to be focusing on for the next year?

Luis Fernando Mejía: So let me give you the overall vision of what we’re doing in here at DNP. We’re working on a series of strategies focused on increasing productivity — not only viewed as productivity from the private sector but from the public sector. How to more efficiently execute the budget, especially the investment budget, which is the one we’re in charge of.

Let me mention a few initiatives that are geared towards that main objective of increasing productivity. So first, for example, we have been working on regulation. Regulation impacts competitiveness in a very important way. We did a sweep of the regulations for the past 17 years, and we found that there were about 95,000 regulations issued by the national government.

Jared Wade: That’s 95,000 over 17 years?

Luis Fernando Mejía: Yes, 17 years. That’s about 15 regulations per day. Almost three decrees per day, which are the ones that are signed by the president.

So, that tells you that there is probably a problem of an “inflation in regulation.” And given the huge amount of regulation, there’s probably a question about the quality of the regulation.

“There is probably a problem of an ‘inflation in regulation.’ And given the huge amount of regulation, there’s probably a question about the quality of the regulation.” – Luis Fernando Mejía

So from the point of view of the private sector, having such a high number of regulations that have been issued is going to create a problem in terms of competitiveness. And in the process of ascension to the OECD, we are trying to implement something called a “regulatory impact assessment.”

This means not only looking from the legal point of view in terms of regulation — making sure that the things that we’re issuing are not unconstitutional or against another law — but also making sure that the economic point of view of the regulation is there. We need to make sure that the cost that is imposed upon the private sector is having a benefit.

Jared Wade: So this means looking at something that might have made sense in 1974 — but now there’s no reason for it to still be on the books?

Luis Fernando Mejía: Exactly. So we’re going to implement that starting next year. And in the process of that implementation we’re working with some committees — for example the energy and the water and sanitation commissions — and trying to think about how to implement this. Because, though it sounds very nice in theory, of course the devil is in the details.

So we have been working very closely with the commissions and with some of the ministries. We expect to have, in probably two or three months, the guidelines of how to implement our regulatory impact assessment in Colombia.

We had a white paper in 2014 that said that, by 2018, we have to implement this at the executive level, meaning ministries and commissions — and we’re going to be there. I think it’s very important in terms of increasing productivity.

Jared Wade: Right. I know this is something that the private sector talks about here — and everywhere. It’s something lots of people are talking about in Washington, too. They say this everyday there, right? But logistically, if there is a regulation on the books, how does it actually get repealed? Can the ministries do it or do you have to go to Congress? What’s the process?

Luis Fernando Mejía: It depends. So we’re not thinking about laws, which are Congress-mandated. We’re thinking about regulations, which are typically issued by either the president or by the ministries. It depends on the level. Decrees are signed by the president. Some resolutions, including technical resolutions, for example, are signed by the ministries. So it depends on who issued the regulations.

But what we’re going to do is not only think about the flow of the regulation, which is introducing the regulatory impact assessment, but also using the stock approach, meaning probably using a pareto of the most important regulations issued and thinking about their economic impact.

Luis Fernando Mejia, a 38-year-old who Colombia’s president called a “brilliant economist,” now has his hands full leading one of the government’s most complex departments through a regulation assessment. (Photo credit: Departamento Nacional de Planeación)

Jared Wade: What other areas are you looking at in terms of increasing productivity?

Luis Fernando Mejía: The other thing is that we launched a mission around one year ago about logistics. Logistics is a very “horizontal” issue where a lot of ministries are involved, including the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Finance, DIAN, and the police. The police have to control the ports and airports, for example.

“We have complaints from the private sector. For example, DIAN makes an inspection of a container and then the ICA and then the INVIMA. But there’s no coordination, so this is a lot of time wasted in customs.” – Luis Fernando Mejía

There are a lot of institutions involved, but there is not a very coordinated approach. For example, when it comes to risk assessment: What type of merchandise or container are you going to be inspecting? Each institution is thinking about their problem and thinking about how to approach the risk assessment in their own ways.

You have to change the way that the process is being done and thinking in a centralized way — risk assessment in an integral way — to make sure that all the parts involved in the chain are working together. Because we have complaints from the private sector. For example, DIAN makes an inspection of a container and then the ICA and then the INVIMA. But there’s no coordination, so this is a lot of time wasted in customs.

Jared Wade: Is that something that has just kind of developed over time as these agencies have been tasked with new responsibilities? They get tangled over time?

Luis Fernando Mejía: Yes, exactly. It’s just a problem of coordinating and mainly because those institutions are not linked to a particular sector. One of those is in the Ministry of Trade, another is in the Ministry of Finance, and another in the Ministry of Transport.

So, here at DNP, given that we have relationships with all of them, we are in charge of coordinating this mission to have some specific recommendations and guidelines about how to improve the process of logistics. And this is not only thinking about the ports and airports, but also thinking about transportation — all of the logistics chain from the exit point of the manufacturing plant to the port or the airport or wherever the merchandise is sold.

“The estimated time for handling either imports or exports throughout the Pacific Alliance is about three days. In Colombia, that’s almost six days — so double our peers.” – Luis Fernando Mejía

We think that that is going to improve competitiveness a lot. Just to give you a figure, the estimated time for handling either imports or exports throughout the Pacific Alliance is about three days. That’s what it takes for the merchandise to go through the ports. In Colombia, that’s almost six days — so double our peers. I’m not thinking about the U.S. or the European Union. We’re thinking about our peers.

We know we have to make sure that we’re in line with our peers. That’s what I think we’re going to help: making sure that that process is a lot smoother.

Jared Wade: The efficiency of moving goods and transportation is always highlighted negatively when you read reports from the World Economic Forum or the International Monetary Fund. Obviously, in terms of the road infrastructure in Colombia, it is just a difficult country to get around. I think that’s one thing that people do miss when they look from Washington or Brussels. There are 20,000-foot mountains here that make moving around problematic. But the 4G road construction plan is aiming to make improvements. Where are we in that undertaking and how is everything progressing?

Luis Fernando Mejía: Yes, at DNP we’re very involved in some of the steps before the approval of these initiatives. In the 4G, as you probably know, there are three waves with probably around nine initiatives per wave. There are close to 30 initiatives in all, and a little bit more when you include the private initiatives.

I think the first wave has already moved forward in a very important way. It’s not only about making sure that we have the construction sites finalized but also the financing side, which is key for the projects to get started.

“We are making sure that the Odebrecht stuff doesn’t add a lot of noise to the financial closure of the second and third waves [of 4G]. We’re working very closely with the banks and with the investors to leave a message of tranquility.” – Luis Fernando Mejía

We are making sure that the Odebrecht stuff doesn’t add a lot of noise to the financial closure of the second and third waves. We’re working very closely with the banks and with the investors to leave a message of tranquility. There are not going to be any issues at all. Everyone is going to get paid.

The Odebrecht stuff actually was not involved in any of the auctions for 4G. They tried to get some of the auctions but they didn’t win anything. So we’re making sure that the second wave and the third wave have financial closure.

The first wave already had financial closure. The works have already started. We estimate that the three waves are going to each add around a half percentage point of additional growth. So these are very important investments.

Jared Wade: Each adding a half point to annual GDP? So 1.5% by the end?

Luis Fernando Mejía: Exactly, 1.5% by the end. And mainly we’re going to have two impacts. The direct impact — which is the brute force construction that is going add a half point of additional growth.

But we’re also going to have the more long-term, or medium-term, impact of increased competitiveness. This means reduced times of transportation for the container or the merchandise. That’s going to be very important and, I think, that will have an important impact in terms of our rankings in competitiveness from the World Economic Forum and so forth.

Jared Wade: So there will be a short-term boom — at a time when Colombia could use it, with the price of oil being down and things being a little rockier here — and then really we’re looking way ahead to 2030 and 2040 as when the country will still continue to reap more and more benefits of a virtuous cycle?  

Luis Fernando Mejía: Exactly. Exactly. And let me comment again now on the importance of the logistics mission. Because when you think about the 4G, of course this is very important. But the time saved, for example, for a container that goes from Bogotá to Buenaventura or to Cartagena, is about eight to 10 hours. Which is a lot. It’s a lot in terms of gas saved, in times of time saved.

But think again about the number I gave you before of additional time it takes for imports and exports. We’re talking about two or three days of additional time compared to our peers. So the marginal gains of generating more efficiency in the customs process I think are very, very important to close all these 4G and customs processes.

Jared Wade: Right. I mean, you can get from Bogotá to Buenaventura in one day or three days — but if it sits in port for four days, what’s the gain?

Luis Fernando Mejía: Exactly. That’s why we think the logistics mission is very important.

Jared Wade: Getting back to Odebrecht, is that still holding a cloud over some of this stuff, with 4G and just some of the general planning and the concept of corruption and the budget in general? How much is that really impacting you on the ground here?

Luis Fernando Mejía: So let me be very concrete on this. The issue here is more about how the investors and the financiers are going to end up in a contract that is cancelled because of the corruption scandal. So, for example, in Ruta del Sol or the Magdalena River, which still hasn’t been completely proven that there was corruption there, but there’s some cloud about that.

So, when the worker decides to undo the contract, there are some questions from private financiers and private investors about who, and when, is going to get paid. Because they were not involved in any corruption on their part. It was just Odebrecht over there and there were other good-faith financiers that were bringing some resources to give the financial closure. But they did not have anything to do with the corruption.

“The Ministry of Finance is working very closely with the banks in making sure that their process is in order and that any good-faith investor is not going to lose any money. The bad guy has to be punished but the good guys have to get their resources back.” – Luis Fernando Mejía

So once these contracts are undone, there is a question about who is going to get paid and when. And that implies some clarifications in terms of the contract and in terms of the regulation.

The Ministry of Finance is working very closely with the banks in making sure that their process is in order and that any good-faith investor is not going to lose any money. Because, again, good faith should prevail and if any contract is undone because of corruption scandals, well, the bad guy has to be punished but the good guys have to get their resources back.

We’re working on that. I think that’s the thing that’s adding noise to the process, but we’re going to have some very good news on that very soon.

Jared Wade: As far as foreign investment — the banks in New York and Europe — are you still seeing people very interested in getting involved in these kinds of projects?

Luis Fernando Mejía: Yes. Definitely. And that’s part of the job of the Financiera de Desarrollo Nacional (FDN), which is kind of the financing arm from the point of view of the government. The FDN gives some credit enhancements to make sure that, for example, some bond issuances are easier. And what the FDN is telling us is that there is still a lot of appetite from the point of view of private and foreign investors to continue to invest in these 4G projects.

“There is still a lot of appetite from the point of view of private and foreign investors to continue to invest in these 4G projects.” – Luis Fernando Mejía

I think it will actually depend on that. Let me be very frank, because the big magnitude of this 4G investment implies that there are no sufficient allocations of funds from local banks to satisfy the financing needs. So we need the foreign banks and that’s, for example, why have some provisions in dollars to cover for the exchange-rate risk. And again we still see some appetite from foreign investors.

Jared Wade: Yes, as I understand it that one of the reasons why the 4G was structured to have such a public/private-partnership focus. That was very appealing because — and this is not a Colombian thing, but any government that’s leading an infrastructure project — it gets bogged down by schedules and overruns. But when you have these large banks, they tend to be more efficient about things and they’ve done it before in various countries.

One last thing that I wanted to touch on is that obviously things are probably going to change quite a bit in 2018 with President Santos leaving office. So you’re just stepping into this office now and you have about a year. How much of a task is all this? Not everything can done before then, right? Is there an understanding that these initiatives are going to continue into the next administration, no matter which side wins?

Luis Fernando Mejía: Definitely. One of the things about DNP, which is very different from the ministries, is that we have the benefit about thinking long term. The ministries have to think about the new minister who comes in with new initiatives.

DNP has always been a very technical institution thinking about long term. One of the things, and I have to be frank with you, that I may have to do is write down and leave some drafts about the new plan for the new government. That is kinds of what the DNP does. That has always been the case.

We have to make sure the main initiatives are there for the new government plan, and I don’t think the new government is going to renege on things as important as these. These are structural things that we’re thinking about: infrastructure, logistics, plans about land-zone use. Those are things that are completely structural that I don’t think any government is going to consider removing.

Again, DNP has always been a very stable institution, thinking about the long term, and we’re very sure that the new government, whoever it is, will continue these initiatives.

Photo credit: Departamento Nacional de Planeación

In addition to the demand for restitution, SIC upheld a prior fine of more than $450,000 USD for instituting what in practice amounts a fee for a plan change that, according to the nation’s telecommunications regulations, should be provided at no charge. “It was found that, within the dynamics of the change process, the operator had planned such a charge as a systematic and deliberate practice, even against the will or needs of its consumers,” wrote SIC in its decision.

Movistar, which is owned by Madrid-based Telefonica, must pay back customers who made the switch as far back as October, 2011, and develop a full list of affected clients within the next 20 days. According to the telecom’s current estimate, at least 208,000 customers were forced to pay the service charge when switching plans.

Anyone who is one the final list of aggrieved customers can either re-claim their money, in cash, at a Movistar location or through another appropriate method. Current clients on plans that include recurring bills can also choose an adjustment on their account that should be granted immediately.

As of this morning, Movistar had not been notified by SIC of the final ruling. But a representative said that it would abide by any decision that was handed down. “Regarding the decision announced today by the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce, Movistar … has not been notified of it,” said Movistar in a statement. “Once this happens, it will comply with the order issued by the entity, without prejudice to their right to bring contentious actions that may be required.”