- Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has been a driving force for employment generation in the city.
- In 2022, 143 new and expansion FDI projects arrived in the Bogota-Region, generating an estimated 20,950 jobs.
Bogota, Colombia – Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is an engine of economic and social development whose benefits not only translate into its contribution to the economy, GDP, growth and competitiveness of a city or a country, but it is also an important source of professional, sophisticated and high-level employment.
Undoubtedly, unemployment has been one of the most difficult adverse effects derived from the covid-19 pandemic to mitigate, as this indicator reached its maximum in Colombia’s recent history with double-digit figures. However, the economic reactivation has had an effect, in some cities with visible results faster than in others, and in the case of Bogota-Region, at the end of 2022, there was a 99% recovery in jobs, compared to 2019.
In line with this economic recovery of the city, 2022 was a record year in employment generation, as well as the second year in the last decade in which new and expansion FDI projects have generated more jobs. It is estimated that last year, new and expansion FDI generated approximately 32,460 jobs in Colombia, of which 64.5% were generated in the Bogota-Region.
“One of the main competitiveness factors of our city-region that contributes to the attraction of foreign investment projects is its qualified and diverse labor force. Colombia’s capital is home to 2 of the 10 best universities in Latin America; it concentrates 35% of the country’s technologists and technicians; as well as 39% of the country’s PhDs“. Indicates Isabella Muñoz, executive director of Invest in Bogota, the relevant investment promotion and world-class event attraction agency for the city.
Likewise, the corporate services and technology sectors accounted for 70.2% of the jobs derived from new and expansion FDI in 2022, confirming the vocation of Bogota’s human talent towards service sectors. Advances in bilingualism and Bogota’s strategic position have contributed to investors’ perception of the region as an ideal destination for the development of their services and programming activities.
In 2022, FDI projects by companies from the United States, Spain and Argentina were the ones that generated the most job vacancies in the Bogota-Region, accounting for 66.8% of all new hires in the city. They are followed by countries such as Brazil and Japan with a share in employment generation: 4.4% and 2.7% respectively. The above shows the diversification in the attraction of projects from non-traditional countries, the use of the city as a hub to meet regional demand and employment generation for the city.
The impact of the installation or expansion of foreign companies from these countries not only translates into the hiring of skilled personnel, but also into the transfer of knowledge, science, technology and innovation, which allows the local productive fabric to be increasingly upgraded, putting Bogota on a par with other developed cities.
Invest in Bogota’s contribution to employment generation
In the last 5 years, Invest in Bogota has facilitated the development of close to 200 new and expansion FDI projects that generated an estimated 39,730 jobs, which corresponds to 44.3% of the jobs generated in the Bogota-Region by new and expansion FDI during that period.
Each project supported by the investment promotion agency generated 204 jobs on average, while the other projects only generated 100, reflecting the value of the entity in attracting relevant investments for the economic and social development of the city-region.