US Ambassador, Colombia’s Finance Minister Featured At CEA General Assembly

The CEA (Council of American Enterprises) presented its 2014 results last week in the Country Club of Bogotá during a lunch attended by major US enterprises operating in Colombia. The event was attended by US Ambassador to Colombia Kevin Whitaker, and Mauricio Cárdenas, Colombia’s minister of finance. According to CEA figures, American companies doing business in Colombia make up approximately 7.1% of Colombia’s GDP.

Ricardo Triana, the CEO of CEA, presented the 2014 results and the work of the CEA Foundation last year to the assembly. Also speaking to the gathering was Santiago Osorio, President of Metlife Colombia. Osorio said the CEA companies, as leaders in areas such as education, human development, talent management and innovation in Colombia, need to do their part as advocates. He stressed that “it is necessary to appeal to the national government so that we can work together on issues of competitiveness.” Furthermore, he highlighted the fact that the private sector has a duty to play a leading role in Colombia’s post-conflict era; something the CEA has expressed its commitment to. The closing remarks were given by Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas, who represented the President, Juan Manuel Santos.

The Assembly gave awards to those US companies with a long history in Colombia and have participated in the country’s economic and human development.

• 60 years of operations in Colombia: Amcham Colombia
• 50 years of operation in Colombia: Dow Chemical, Leo Burnett Colombiana, Sunoco of Colombia.
• 20 years of operations in Colombia: Motorola Solutions, Cisco Systems, Avaya Communications, Emerson Electric, Seaboard of Colombia, McKinsey & Company and Mattel Colombia.