Juan Manuel Santos, President of the Republic of Colombia, has called on the UAE business community to take advantage of the attractive investment opportunities that are opening up within Colombia’s tourism, agri-business, and renewable energy sectors.

His comments came during a meeting on Sunday at Dubai Chamber’s premises, where he and a high-level delegation from Colombia were received by Majid Saif Al Ghurair, Chairman of Dubai Chamber, and senior Chamber officials.

During the meeting, President Santos said that distance is not an obstacle to strengthening UAE-Colombian economic relations and establishing new joint partnerships. He explained that Colombia has a lot of advantages to offer UAE businesses, including a stable investment environment, a strategic location, and steady foreign direct investment, FDI, flows into the country.

As a leading logistics hub for Latin America, he pointed out that Colombia provides access to around 1.5 billion consumers and provides greater flexibility for Dubai-based companies that want to enter promising markets in the region.

Addressing the Colombian President and delegation, Majid Saif Al Ghurair said the UAE and Colombia share a unique trade relationship, which has strengthened in recent years, supported by high-level visits and renewed commitment to boost economic co-operation.

Al Ghurair said the visit of the Colombian President to the UAE reflects Colombia’s strong commitment to improving economic ties with the country. He pointed out that the Chamber made a lot of headway during its trade mission to Bogota last month, where UAE delegates met government and business leaders.

Al Ghurair described Colombia as a market of strategic importance to Dubai and explained that the Chamber is currently identifying opportunities in the Latin American country that offer the most potential for its members.

He concluded his remarks by calling on Colombian companies to participate in Expo 2020 Dubai and the Global Business Forum on Latin America 2018.

Hamad Buamim, President and CEO, Dubai Chamber, spoke about the key factors driving trade and investment between the UAE and Colombia in recent years. He revealed that UAE-Colombia non-oil trade has grown steadily to reach US$149 million in 2016, adding that Colombian exports to Dubai accounted for a majority of this volume.

He further noted that fruits, nuts, vegetables, plants, flowers, precious stones and coffee, remain high-potential exports from Colombia to the UAE, and said that there is plenty of scope for the UAE to export ethylene polymers, fertilizers, copper and aluminium wires.

Buamim added that Colombia is fast becoming a preferred investment hub within Latin America due to its competitive business environment, its status as one of the region’s largest economies, and recent reforms that aim to attract FDI.