Hoy fue la apertura de GXG en Nueva York una tarea de Interbolsa con Global Funds de EU...como fuimos y que dijeron la gente de Nueva York sobre Colombia ??

I have several times attended the bell ringing ceremony at the NYSE but it was a new experience to be up on the platform alongside my colleagues - one for the photo album as they say. As opposed to dwelling on the achievement itself and appearing to pat ourselves on the back I wanted to summarise briefly what I said to those gathered at the breakfast presentation that preceded the bell ringing.

I endeavoured to explain to those listening that Colombia has come a tremendous distance since I first set foot in Medellin in 2000, the most obvious example of that being the need for me 9 years ago to be met by a bodyguard whilst this week the BID is expecting 5000 delegates in the same city - an enormous vote of confidence in both Colombia and what Alvaro Uribe have achieved, to deny there is a correlation between the two is to live on the moon.

I covered the obvious macro changes and the very real possibility that Colombia will truly emerge from its darkest hours of the 1980´s & 1990's to become the Andean superpower as infrastructure projects improve efficiency and trade whilst the completion of the multitude of energy projects (especially hydroelectric) will allow for the real possibility of the country exporting power to neighbours such as Panama who are currently having all manner of inflation issues caused by their need to import oil.

I made mention of the people of Colombia who in the vast majority are a natural resource in themselves, it is an important aspect in a country that numbers over 40 million souls.

Both during the presentation and during conversations afterwards there was one theme that constantly cropped up - and for good reason. Why do Colombian companies spend so much time looking at their feet ? To explain this without naming individual companies is very difficult so I will keep in general. This relates back to a topic I have commented upon in the press on several occasion - that of transparency, it is key and Colombia will be held back if companies do not get into the habit of keeping their shareholder fully up to date with developments.

What makes this even more annoying is that the majority of the companies to be found on the IGBC (disregarding valuations for the time being) have tremendous success stories to tell. Only 10 years ago you would find few corporations with holdings outside of Colombia - now it is harder to find those without regional exposure and even those are now looking at the possibility. We have regional leaders in sectors, Colombia is an enormous presence in Central America and due to the companies prudence over the past 2 years there is a war chest of well over a US$1 bill ready to be spent overseas by those same corporations. Colombian companies can be proud of these achievements – it is time to look the world in the eye not at the feet.

Whilst there has been tremendous progress over the past 3 years on this front it is for some companies here in Colombia like getting blood from a stone when it comes to getting information - some blame internal rules and others simply don't care, this is not only unacceptable to foreign investors who will simply pass on the other side of the road but it should be totally unacceptable for local investors as well.

Here at Interbolsa we are trying to change this via probing reports etc and I urge other brokerage houses to perhaps push back against tradition and perhaps question more deeply - as often as not this leads to good news as well as bad.

I was asked after my presentation this question  "What can you say to convince me to invest in Colombia ?"

What I will say to the companies is this : "What will you do to help me to convince people to invest in Colombia ?" The companies have the stories, the projects, the vision and in most cases the money - now tell us properly what you are doing with all those attributes.

During other meetings before and after the ceremony I found a lot of support for Colombia amongst fund managers who are sat on enormous piles of cash ready to invest - it is the collective responsibility of the corporations here to make sure we attract our share of that money which in the end (all those not agreeing please fell free to flea over the border) benefits the majority of the population.