Colombia only has enough oil to last the next eight years, according to Treasury Minister, Mauricio Cárdenas, hence it’s urgent to increase exploration which will lead to the discovery of new oil reserves, especially after guerrilla attacks against pipelines such as the one in Caño Limón-Coveñas generated a loss of about one million dollars per day in 2012.

“We have oil for 8.1 years and we know that’s not a lot of time to sustain a rhythm of one million barrels per day, which is why we need to find reserves quickly,” Cárdenas said during an interview with RCN Radio. He did, however, acknowledge that Ecopetrol’s results for last year were very positive. A company like that, he explained, always has important challenges and increasing reserves is one of them. “Exploration is imperative to increase reserves,” Cárdenas stressed, “and investment is imperative for exploration.”

While Cárdenas also said that yearly production might have been 10,000 bpd more than it was if terrorist attacks hadn’t been an issue, he also mentioned that the Air Force and the Army have made significant contributions to increasing the level of security in recent months.

On February 21st Colombia will sign the Free Trade Agreement with South Korea, a deal that the Government feels will pave the way for similar agreements with Japan, China, Singapore, Malaysia and India. Last Tuesday, the government of Lee Myung-Bak approved the final document of a deal that was first discussed in December of 2009.

The 22-chapter deal, which includes the elimination of tariffs for 96 percent of either nations’ products, must still be approved and made into law by the Colombian Congress and the National Assembly of South Korea, which should happen in late March of this year. The hope is that the agreement can go into effect by June, at the latest.

As expected, not all sectors are celebrating. While the agricultural sector feels it’s a chance to break into Asian markets, notorious for importing foods, others like the automobile and electrical appliance industries are concerned that the country may be unprepared for this move.

“2012 was an unfortunate years in terms of execution of Government projects,” said Jose María Escovar, the CEO of Colombian multinational, Gerfor. After a 50,000 million-peso investment in Colombia to optimize production of PVC pipes and other supplies for infrastructure and construction, Escovar explained that the Government’s failure to execute projects resulted in 150 layoffs and a five percent reduction in sales; plants are also operating at 50 percent.

“We see our products in many projects, ports, roads, aqueducts (…) but the Government needs to execute them,” Escovar said.

Dane revealed that last year’s unemployment rate was 10,4%, only slightly lower than the previous year’s 10,8%. While President Santos celebrated the news, others are concerned the Government will have a hard time keeping unemployment on a downward trend.

“Colombia,” said General Labor Confederation President, Julio Roberto Gómez, “doesn’t have a policy conducive to generating sustainable employment, or jobs that aren’t temporary or seasonal.”

Renovations to the Cartagena Refinery (Reficar) plant will place Colombia at the top of the list of the most modern refineries in Latin America. According to the company’s estimates, in just a few years the company could go from producing 25,000 bpd to 40,000 by integrating the old facility with the newly expanded one.

Crude oil would also improve in quality going from 1,200 sulfur parts per million, to less than 30. Diesel fuel production is also expected to increase in both quality and quantity, from 28.000 bpd to 110,000, of which 75 percent would be for exports.

A specific date for all the projects to be finished by has yet to be announced, but the company expects to have more specific information in about two weeks.

With an interest rate reduction from 4,25 to 4,0 percent, Colombia’s Central Bank will both boost the economy, which experts say isn’t growing to its full potential, and encourage Colombians to accumulate more debt.

“Each person and bank must take on the task of assessing if they are able to take on more debt and how to use available credit options”, said bank chief, Jose Dario Uribe.

Uribe also said that the decision was made considering that, on average,  the economies of Colombia’s commercial partners have grown as much as expected. The Board of Directors also decided to extend daily dollar purchases thru May and expects to accumulate 3,000 million dollars, with daily purchases of no less then 30 million dollars.

Think of an article of clothing made with a thread that stimulates circulation, collagen production and even reduces cellulite. Or picture a shirt made with cotton treated so that it pulls sweat away from the body and expels it just like lycra.

More than 206 international exhibitors are introducing innovative proposals like these and much more at Colombiatex, Latin America’s biggest trade show for the textile and clothing industry. The show comes to an end tomorrow.

At the last minute, President Juan Manuel Santos decided to postpone signing the decree that would charge a specific tariff of four-dollars per kilo on fabric, clothing and shoe imports until he discusses it national importers and manufacturers.

With the tariff, the Government hopes will put a stop to the influx of fabrics and clothing at what the President refers to as “inexplicable prices”. The sector said the 4-dollar tariff would be insufficient, hence the Santos administration has agreed to take another look at it and possibly increase the amount.

The import of 944,081 imitation ‘vueltiao’ hats from China is jeopardizing the economy of the Zenú people of Córdoba, the manufacturers of the traditional hats.

The National Government plans to take immediate action to protect the industry, with the cooperation of Dian (the national tax and customs authority), and will not only ban imitations but also meet with the Zenú community next week to assess the situation.

One of the Chinese companies that makes the imitation hats is the Cangnan Fanlin Arts & Gifts Co. Ltda, but in China there are hundreds of factories that copy accessories from all over the world. For decades, the Chinese have made imitation cowboy hats as well as copied and commercialized hats from other countries in South and Central America. For the Chinese, therefore, the controversy sparked in Colombia by the most recent knockoff is practically meaningless given that Colombia is just another destination among many for their products.

Artesanías de Colombia, a branch of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Commerce, is urging people, especially merchants and consumers, to value the items born from the originality, creativity and ability of hundreds of Colombians whose livelihood depends on the manufacture of products like the ‘vueltiao’ hat.

This particular hat was born in the savannahs of Córdoba and Sucre and is considered a national symbol. While it’s unknown exactly when the first one was made, they have undergone constant evolution. At the beginning they were plain cream-colored hats and the black designs all around it came along later.

The hats are currently made with cañaflecha in black and khaki. While it used to be an activity exclusive to men, women now do it as well and the use of machines is permitted.

In contrast to more cautious predictions made by analysts and research centers like Anif and Fedesarrollo, Bancolombia’s finance team believes Colombia’s economic growth may surpass the 4,5 percent average and claimed it’s “highly likely that the Government’s investments will exceed expectations.”

Free housing plans and 40 billion pesos in public works scheduled for the next few years support the ambitious forecast, but Bancolombia also warned that there’s a chance negative political developments could alter the course of foreign investment.