Escuela de Finanzas y Comercio Internacional.

Docente: Nidia Jineth González Toro.

Why to Invest in Colombia

Workshop

1. Enlist the four most important steps that Colombia has taken in order to make
foreign Investors feel protected. Explain in your own words, in past tense
and using at least 10 Business Verbs, why do you think these steps have
made foreign Investors feel safe.
 Colombia has ratified 13 free trade agreements, has signed another 2 and is
negotiating another 5.
This is important as it provides a somewhat stable legal environment for both
foreign and domestic investment.
 Foreign investment attraction policy.
They implemented this policy to generate a favourable and attractive
environment for investors.
 Colombia has the best infrastructure in the region.
By having 8 ports that connect with two oceans (Pacific, Atlantic) and also
allow easy access of goods into the country, helps the investor to realize that
their goods can easily enter the territory.
 Colombia has a very good energy infrastructure.
This tells you that you can invest in large projects, which in the future can
generate good returns for investors.
2. By Comparing Ecuador and Colombia’s Port Infrastructure, explain which one
offers the best option for ease of access to International Markets and which
one offers the best value for money. Use a minimum of 10 Business Verbs
and write your text using the three variations of present tense, simple,
continuous and perfect. Do not use past or future tenses.
 Colombia's infrastructure is better than Ecuador's due to the fact that
Colombia has a connection with both oceans, which makes it more affordable
to bring goods into the country and therefore easier to distribute and deliver
the goods either to companies in Colombia or to be send from the ports to
other areas of the world.
If the investor has a company within the country for obvious reasons it will be
easier to decide between the infrastructure of Ecuador or Colombia, because
if you opt for the Colombian will be easier to develop and organize their
paperwork in this and will have less transportation and shipping costs, said to
succeed with your company or investment.
3. Explain in your own words and using the three past tense variations
(Simple, continuous, perfect), why Colombian energetic infrastructure has
been catalogued as the best in the region, according to the World
Competitiveness Yearbook of the IMD. 
 The report was made some time ago and they said that Colombia had all
urban areas and most of the rural areas with energy which ensured that large
 Escuela de Finanzas y Comercio Internacional.
Docente: Nidia Jineth González Toro.

scale operations could be carried out in this country, Colombia was described
as "an energy exporting country".
4. You and your colleagues work as financial and investment advisers for Dà-
Jiāng Innovations, better known worldwide as DJI, manufacturers of
unmanned aerial vehicles. Write an e-mail to the board of directors
explaining why Colombia is the best suited country to open a new DJI
factory, assembly and distribution centre for South America. Use at least
15 Business Verbs, present, past and future tenses. Your score will
depend on how convincing the reasons that you enlist and explain are.
 To: Dà-JiāngInnovations@gmail.com
Subject: New factory opening.

Greetings to the members of the board of directors.

The following email is to inform you why Colombia would be the best option to
open a new factory, assembly and distribution center of DJI for South
America.
This recommendation will be made based on the study previously done by
Financiers Anonymous.
The first reason why Colombia should be seen as the right country is because
it is the only country in South America with access to both oceans and with
such access it has only 9 seaports, seven of them on the Caribbean coast
and two on the Pacific and to complement it has 11 airports that facilitate
access to international markets.
Secondly, Colombia, being located in a special zone, has a time zone very
similar to that of other countries in the Americas, with a maximum difference
of 6 hours.
Colombia has multiple agreements which makes it easier for investors to
establish new companies in the national territory, having several agreements
and treaties (BIT or IMT) generates low costs, something attractive for many
investors.
At the same time Colombia has a very good electronic infrastructure which
makes it possible to create companies that aim to have large-scale
operations.
And finally, Colombia has very warm and friendly people who are willing to do
anything, which will allow the company to diversify in terms of culture if it is
decided to open a branch in that country, and with this not only to understand
how the Colombian population but also a large part of the Latin American
community is today.
For these and many more points that will be included in the final report is why
we consider that Colombia would be the best option to open the new DJI
factory.

with appreciation,

Anonymous Financiers Society.

 Escuela de Finanzas y Comercio Internacional.
Docente: Nidia Jineth González Toro.

5. Give and explain two examples of how Colombia’s geographical location and
time zone would benefit the daily running of business for a company which
trades with North, Central and South America. Use Future tense only. Use at
least 5 Business Verbs.
 If you decide to work as an investor in a new company whose headquarters
will be located in Miami and several branches will be located in Colombia
(Medellin, Bogota, Bucaramanga), operations would be very simple since
Colombia and Miami share the same time zone, so they will have the same
opening and closing times and there will be no sudden changes in personnel
transfers.
 A Colombian company is in the process of globalization and is going to decide
if it is profitable or not; to open branches in Toronto and New York, they will
take these two cities as references since they have the same time zone, with
what they believe will be a great decision since they will be able to manage all
the companies from the same place without being affected by the time zone,
what they visualize is to be in Colombia, but to manage the New York branch
in real time without having to interrupt their sleep schedules and those of their
personnel.
6. You and your colleagues work for the Boston based marketing software
company HubSpot in the Human Resources department. Write an email to
the board of directors explaining why opening a new development office
in Colombia would suit the company’s search for highly qualified staff.
Who is HubSpot? (The Boston-based marketing software start-up prides itself on
offering employees many opportunities to learn, try new things and grow their
careers. That can sometimes be to the detriment of time outside the office —
HubSpot's recent study of young executives found that 1 in 2 people say they need
to improve their work/life balance.
The company is making significant strides in that area by giving workers unlimited
vacation days, allowing pets in the office and offering free beer.
6. Dear board of directors.

This e-mail is with the purpose of to explain you the reasons why you
should consider to open a new development office in Colombia.
The first reason is that the location of Colombia is very central, this is a big
advantage over the other countries, other reason that is important and
could be of interest to your company, the people of Colombia is very
competitive and they strive of improve, also they are very good people and
are happiness with their mates, this can to provoke a increase in
efficiency, and by last the benefits that the company offers would be an
incentive to the Colombian people to work.
 Escuela de Finanzas y Comercio Internacional.
Docente: Nidia Jineth González Toro.

For those and more reasons the HubSpot could be consider the idea of
work in Colombia with the Colombia’s people and the magnificent culture
of here.

With appreciation,
The human resources division.
7. Explain how Colombia has managed to improve its commercial policies since
1990. Compare the benefits to foreign investors before and after 1990. Use
Past and present tenses only. Use at least 10 Business Verbs which you
haven’t used on the previous questions.
 Starting because in Colombia there has always been the desire to improve
and have better terms with other countries in the world and their imports. In
order to fix the policies before 1990, Colombia chose to change that path and
start new commercial laws so that foreign countries would see Colombia as a
more attractive country to invest and also associate, that Colombia was a
more reliable investment and attractive for international business.
8. Explain why the Canadian firm Neuvoo decided to open an operations base
in Colombia. Use past tense only. Use at least 20 Business Verbs.
 This company decided to open a base of operations in Colombia after having
seen and analysed several factors such as a gigantic sample of innovative
talent that the city (Medellin) had or more than all, that the citizens had, the
responsibility and commitment, and above all the low costs that there were in
the competitions, which led them to think that they had to invest in Colombia
to develop and generate more profits, but I think an important factor in making
this decision were the people; they were the ones who stood out and made
their talent shine and this caught the attention of the company Neuvo.
9. Explain how Neuvoo became one of the companies that helped increase the
amount of foreign direct investment in Colombia. Use all tenses. Use at least
20 Business Verbs.
 How did they do it? Easy, with the contacts they had and being such a big
company and therefore recognized, what they said or talked about Colombia
would generate repercussions. As what they said was good that generates
more investors and foreign people to invest in Colombia, and it does not have
to be a direct comment of Neuvo could be that an investor or wealthy person
was in the Neuvo network and realized that they have offices in Colombia or
are planning to have offices in Colombia, this is generating intrigue. And the
person may decide to search more about Colombia and fall in love and in the
future visit the country and decide to invest.
So we see that Neuvo directly and indirectly influences new and potential
foreign investors.
10. Make a 3 minute video presentation based on question 4.
All members of your group must talk for at least 40 seconds. All tenses
must be used. You will be marked as a group. Your score will depend on
pronunciation, confidence, communication skills and rapport. Use as
many Business verbs as possible.
Escuela de Finanzas y Comercio Internacional.
Docente: Nidia Jineth González Toro.