Medellin’s investment promotion agency ACI -- Agencia de Cooperacion e Inversion de Medellin y el Area Metropolitana -- reported December 21 that foreign direct investment (FDI) in Medellin so far this year has topped US$253 million, or US$11 million over ACI’s initial forecast target.

“These investment projects came mostly from Mexico, El Salvador, Italy, Venezuela, Japan, Spain, Taiwan, the United States, France and Panama and correspond to the economic sectors of tourism infrastructure, health services/life sciences, real estate, food and beverages, manufacturing and ‘fourth-generation’ [high-tech] industries,” according to ACI.

“For the development of these projects, it is estimated that 3,180 jobs were generated,” the agency added.

Meanwhile, foreign-government aid projects to Medellin – mainly from the U.S., the EU, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Canada and Japan – targeted education, security, mobility, economic development, environment, social inclusion and “peace building.” These investments topped US$17 million, or US$6 million more than ACI initially expected for 2018.

“Of a total of 1,287 projects and indications of investment intention directed towards Colombia between 2003 and 2018, the majority comes from the United States, Spain, Canada, Brazil, United Kingdom, Chile, Mexico and France, so the recommendation is to strengthen the relationship with these countries through proactive work to attract foreign investment to Medellin,” the agency added.

High-Tech Sector Leads Outlook

On a related front, ACI reported December 20 that a recent joint study by the Medellin Mayor's office and Argentina’s “PRODEM” development agency found that Medellin is becoming a major focal point for high-tech investment.

“In the last three years, the Mayor's Office of Medellín has accompanied about 119,000 people in their ideas of entrepreneurship,” according to ACI.

The joint study was the result of local officials setting a goal that Medellín should become one of the top-three “most-entrepreneurial cities” and the “capital of innovation in Latin America in 2023,” according to ACI.

The study analyzed variables including human capital, entrepreneurial education, culture, business structure, science, technology and information platform, as well as local demand, social capital, financing, local institutional support and local policies and regulations, according to ACI.

"Medellín has an ecosystem of young entrepreneurship that advances and has opportunities for improvement to make the leap towards a new, more dynamic stage,” added Hugo Kantis, director of Argentina’s PRODEM, according to ACI.