The Business Year Colombia 2023

Through this 148-page publication, The Business Year invites you to see how Colombia’s business landscape, despite challenges, is driving forward sustainability through the application of the ESG toolkit and positioning itself as a welcome destination for investment.

Colombia is undergoing a period of generation-marking adversity. And saying this of Colombia is a tall order given a tumultuous yesterday of armed conflict and internal mass displacement. Today's struggles are of a different nature, however. President Duque has had to give simultaneous management to the COVID-19 health crisis, the Venezuelan refugee crisis, and an expanding fiscal deficit situation that lost the country its investment-grade rating. All this against a backdrop of mass social discontent manifested by record-setting civilian protest. Considering this concoction of challenges, Colombian business leaders have demonstrated the exceptional traits of resilience that characterize this country's people. This edition of The Business Year: Colombia is dedicated to them. This 188-page publication aims to paint a picture of Colombia's current economic condition, examining each major sector through exclusive interviews, as well as news and analysis, from from finance to energy and transport to tourism.

Colombia was expected to grow at a strong rate after bouncing back from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the country’s GDP only grew 1% during 2023, according to the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), and during the third quarter of the year it decreased by 0.3%. Inflation reached a peak of 13.34% in March 2023 yet had dropped to 8.35% by February 2024. The outlook and general feel of the economy has revolved around uncertainty since the election of Gustavo Petro, yet the country has achieved notable milestones of late, including the implementation of tax reform, progress in energy transition, and the re-vitalization of key sectors such as tourism. Through this over 100-page publication, The Business Year invites you to explore how Colombia’s business landscape, despite challenges, has demonstrated resilience through technology and the application of sustainability-focused tools. It features interviews with leaders from every major sector of the economy and a range of articles and analysis.

In this 172-page Panama 2023 publication, The Business Year’s research team had the chance to experience Panama at a very interesting moment in its history. Panama had a tough pandemic, its economy exposed to the ebbs and flows of global trade more than most because of the country’s eponymous canal.

The twin effects of the Saudi-Russian oil price war and the global COVID-19 pandemic in the first half of 2020 provided an extraordinary challenge for the already embattled Duque administration. What was meant to be a year of stable growth is virtually guaranteed to become the country's first recession since 1999. However, the quick and targeted government response at the onset of the pandemic and Colombia's strong macroeconomic fundamentals have most projections in agreement that Colombia will weather the storm among the best in the region, giving way to a strong recovery period. The Business Year's country-specific publications, sometimes featuring over 150 face-to-face interviews, are among the most comprehensive annual economic publications available internationally. This 172-page publication covers finance, energy, mining, industry, security, IT, transport, infrastructure, real estate, agriculture, health, tourism, and entertainment. The report features dozens of interviews, including:

The Business Year: Angola 2023, produced with the support of AIPEX and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Angola, features interview, articles, and analysis over 200 pages.

To understand how the investment environment has evolved over recent months in Mexico, our team conducted a year-long, on-the-ground research operation that included interviews with over 150 business leaders and officials defining trends across every major sector of the economy. It is an election year in Mexico, meaning the often turbulent Obrador administration is drawing to a close. In contrast with the nervousness and uncertainty we witnessed ahead of his inauguration, our team notes a particular sense of ease around the upcoming elections as CEOs and investors are more familiarized with Morena, the party founded by the incumbent president. Overall, 2024 is expected to see an unusual general continuity of business during an election year thanks to the fact that both of the main presidential candidates are not expected to announce disruptive macroeconomic policies. Through this 220-page publication, featuring interviews with top business leaders from every major sector of the economy, as well as a range of articles and analysis, we present a comprehensive snapshot of the Mexican economy and the investment environment at this crucial period.

This 140-page publication, produced in partnership with the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, includes more than 130 interviews with business leaders from across the economy. Our research unfolded as COVID-19 slipped further into the rearview mirror and EU funds began to provide a boost at a crucial period. It covers green economy, energy, finance, industry, telecoms and IT, transport, construction, real estate, health, education, and tourism.