General News

Antioquia’s ‘Pacifico 2’ Highway Project Reaches Financial Close

Medellin Herald September 12, 2016

Colombian construction giants Odinsa and Construcciones El Condor and Colombia’s infrastructure financial agency (Financiera de Desarrollo Nacional, FDN) jointly announced September 9 that financial close has finally been achieved for the “Pacifico 2” highway projects in Antioquia, part of the

General News

Antioquia’s Community Hydroelectric Projects Continue to Grow

Medellin Herald August 23, 2016

The Antioquia departmental government’s investment agency (“IDEA”) announced August 15 the initial start-up of a 15-megawatt (MW) hydroelectric dam serving Alejandria, Concepcion and Santo Domingo – small municipalities roughly 50 kilometers to the east of Medellin. The COP$120 billion (US$41 million) project incorporated two hydroelectric turbines imported from Austria

General News

Bancolombia Now Finances More ‘4G’ Highway Projects than All Others

Medellin Herald August 1, 2016

Medellin-based banking giant Bancolombia announced August 1 that with the recent financial close of the “Autopista Conexion Norte” fourth-generation (4G) highway project, it has now taken the lead among Colombian banks in terms of the total number of “4G” projects financed. To date, Bancolombia has put-up COP$1.2 trillion (US$389 million) for a series of “4G” […]

General News

EPM Restores 100% of Guatape Hydroelectric Production

Medellin Herald June 27, 2016

Medellin-based EPM – Colombia’s biggest power producer – on June 25 announced that it has now restored 100% of output at its 560-megawatt (MW) “Guatape” hydroelectric plant in Antioquia following a February 15 fire that had destroyed power cables. The restoration came 68 days earlier than originally planned — thanks to fortuitous delivery of replacement […]

General News

‘Medellin Como Vamos’ Study Shows Progress, Shortfalls

Medellin Herald June 27, 2016

The tenth annual “Medellin Como Vamos” (How are We Doing) study released June 24 shows that Medellin and its citizens continue to make progresss – but also suffer some shortfalls — in key areas including business growth, education, environmental protection, public safety, mobility, health and poverty-reduction. The authoritative “MCV” study – this time covering the

General News

Medellin Companies Plan to Boost Hiring by 14% in 3Q 2016: Manpower

Medellin Herald June 21, 2016

The latest Manpower survey of employers in Colombia shows that Medellin companies plan to boost hiring by 14% during third quarter (3Q) 2016, second only to Bucaramanga (up 24%) for all of Colombia. In an June 17 interview with Medellin Herald at the World Economic Forum conference, Manpower Latin America president Monica Flores explained that […]

General News

Antioquia: Best in National ‘Corruption Index’ study

Medellin Herald June 13, 2016

The June 2016 edition of Bitacora Economica (Economic Analysis) from Colombia’s national retail trade association (Fenalco) shows that Antioquia (Medellin’s department) has the best “corruption index” of all Colombia’s departments (states). On a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 being the “best” and 0 being the “worst,” Antioquia’s corruption index came in at 82.4 […]

General News

Magdalena River Dredging Project Fails to Meet Financing Deadline

Medellin Herald June 13, 2016

Cormagdalena – the Colombian government agency overseeing a proposed dredging project for the Magdalena River that would dramatically boost freight movements – announced June 12 that project developer Navelena SAS failed to meet a June 11 deadline to obtain financial close on the COP$2.5 trillion (US$877 million) project. The Magdalena River dredging scheme is among […]

General News

Antioquia Governor Now Says Toyo Project ‘Legal,’ Construcion Starts

Medellin Herald June 1, 2016

Antioquia Governor Luis Perez announced June 15 that legal issues have now been resolved with the COP$1.8 trillion (US$603 million), 9.8-kilometers-long “Toyo Tunnel” project that will link Medellin to new freight ports in Uraba (Caribbean coast). “Having cleared-away doubts and legal aspects, this Wednesday June 15, in the municipality of Santa Fe de Antioquia, is […]

General News

EPM Restarts Guatapé, Wins ‘Positive’ Outlook from Wall Street

Medellin Herald April 25, 2016

Medellin-based public utility EPM announced April 23 that it partially restored output from its 560-megawatt (MW) “Guatape” hydroelectric plant in Antioquia – more than a week earlier than planned. As a result, 140-MW of power supply has now returned to Colombia’s national grid, with the remaining 420-MW from Guatape scheduled to return to service over […]