General News

EPM Buys Rionegro’s ‘E.P. Rio’ Public Utility; Plans Big Water, Sewage-Treatment Investments

Medellin Herald November 9, 2017

Medellin-based multinational utilities giant EPM announced November 9 that it has completed the buyout of 100% of the stock-and-assets of neighboring Rionegro’s “E.P. Rio” public utility, following which EPM aims to invest COP$550 billion (US$183 million) in water-and-sewage infrastructure in

General News

USAID Helping Antioquia’s Poor to Recover Lands Wrecked by Irresponsible Miners

Medellin Herald November 1, 2017

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced October 31 that it is helping Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities in El Bagre, Antioquia, to restore lands to safe and productive use following environmental destruction left by irresponsible miners. In the COP$1.4 billion (US$470,000) USAID-sponsored project, 90 economically disadvantaged families – all

General News

Medellin’s International Airport Expansions to Debut in December

Medellin Herald October 27, 2017

Colombia’s national infrastructure agency (Agency Nacional de Infraestructura, ANI) announced October 26 that expansions and upgrades to Medellin’s Jose Maria Cordova (JMC) international airport will debut in December 2017. The US$116 million project adds five more aircraft boarding tunnels, another 9,000 square meters of terminal space and additional independent power

General News

Medellin Fourth-Best among Colombian Cities for Doing Business: World Bank

Medellin Herald October 9, 2017

A new report from the World Bank finds that Medellin is fourth-best among Colombia’s 32 departmental-capital cities in four key business categories: relative ease in starting a business, getting construction permits, registering properties and ease of paying taxes. According to the Doing Business in Colombia report (see:

General News

ANI Announces Influx of Foreign Investors for Antioquia’s ‘Pacifico 2’ Highway

Medellin Herald September 27, 2017

Colombia’s national infrastructure agency (Agencia Nacional de Infraestructura, ANI) announced September 26 that two big investment banks based in Britain and Canada inked deals to help finance the “Pacifico 2” fourth generation (4G) highway project in Antioquia. According to ANI, Britain-based ING Capital LLC and Canada-based CDPW Revenue Fixe (the Quebec provincial

General News

Devimar Wins Enviro Permits for Crucial ‘Mar 1’ Highway Project in Antioquia

Medellin Herald September 15, 2017

Medellin-based highway concessionaire Devimar announced September 13 that it has obtained two vital environmental licenses that pave the way for construction of the “Autopista al Mar-1” divided highway linking Medellin westward toward current and future Atlantic ports. The project also will include construction of a second tunnel parallel to the existing “Tunel del

General News

Giant ‘Hidroituango’ Hydroelectric Project Now 70% Complete: EPM

Medellin Herald July 7, 2017

Medellin-based multinational utilities giant EPM announced July 7 that its 2.4-gigawatt “Hidroituango” hydroelectric plant project in Antioquia is now 70% complete – with an initial 300-megawatts (MW) of electric output scheduled to start at end-2018. The US$5.5 billion project – Colombia’s biggest-ever hydroelectric plant and its largest-single infrastructure project – is

General News

Guatape Tour Boat Sinks; 9 Confirmed Dead

Medellin Herald June 26, 2017

Antioquia’s disaster-recovery agency — Departamento Administrativo para la Prevención, Atención y Recuperación de Desastres (DAPARD) – announced June 29 that the bodies of the last two persons missing from a boating disaster at Guatape lake have now been recovered by divers. A total of nine passengers died in the June 25 sinking of the “El […]

General News

Foreign Investment in Medellin Tops US$1.63 Billion, Continues to Grow: ACI

Medellin Herald June 15, 2017

In a June 7 forum organized by Agencia de Cooperación e Inversión de Medellín y el Área Metropolitana (ACI Medellin), ACI director Sergio Escobar revealed that Medellin and its metro area so far have attracted US$1.63 billion in private foreign direct investment (FDI) over the 15-years of ACI’s existence. At the forum, Ambassadors to Colombia […]

General News

Colombia’s ‘Como Vamos’ Quality-of-Life Surveys: Medellin Best, Bogota Worst

Medellin Herald May 26, 2017

The just-released report from the Colombian national “Como Vamos” (“How are we Doing?”) network of citizen surveys finds that Medellin is perceived as best among major cities for over-all quality of life, while Bogota is worst. The face-to-face surveys of 14,649 men and women over 18 years of age in households ranging from poorest (“estrato […]