DE S T INAT IONS
“It's an attractive city to Latin Americans, who come seeking a better quality of life and education”
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a major tax reform every other year or so, and businesses don’t know what to expect in terms of their tax burden in the long run. In sum, investing is harder than it should be unless you are a big player, and that is not good for the economy. We need more competitive financial markets.” In May, Colombia elected a new president. Ivan Duque, 42, a member of the right-wing Democratic Centre party and former ally of Uribe, was widely viewed as the business- friendly choice. He assumed office on August 7 pledging to boost investment, cut taxes and shrink the state. “Te new president was the candidate of the status
quo,” says Reyes. “He had the backing of the large conglomerates that run the country’s economy. While the business environment may not improve dramatically, his being elected avoided a number of risky economic experiments that could have come under his opponent, Gustavo Petro, who is ideologically close to the old-guard, anti-free-trade Latin American leſt. “It was a choice between a candidate who was suspected
of being anti-business and anti-market, and one who is at best pro-business but not really pro-market. In this sense, Duque may be better for the economy.”
From gold to gigabytes Te original pre-Colombian inhabitants of Bogota, the Muisca, were master goldsmiths, and the city’s Gold Museum is a world-class showcase of precious metalwork. Gold mining and other extraction industries have played a major part in the nation’s economic history. While the
S E P TEMBE R 2 0 18
ABOVE FROM LEFT: Workers pick coffee, one of Colombia's most important exports; unprocessed coffee berries; the Gold Museum is one of the most popular tourist attractions
Colombian capital is oſten dubbed “the Athens of South America” (a nickname given by Prussian explorer Alexander Von Humboldt in the 19th century) for its cultural riches, Bogotanos tend to be business-minded and entrepreneurial in spirit. With a population in excess of eight million, Bogota is
recognised as one of Latin America’s key business centres. A new terminal at El Dorado International airport opened in 2012. Recent hotel openings include a 297-room Grand Hyatt, a sleek W, two Four Seasons properties and the uber-cool BOG boutique hotel. It has a modern CBD in the Chapinero district, well away from traffic-hogged La Candelaria. In January, the glass-walled 4,000-delegate capacity Agora convention centre opened. In a bid to keep ahead of upstart smaller rival cities, Bogota styles itself as the tech and coworking capital: HubBOG, a “start-up campus” set up a decade ago, claims to have mentored more than 200 countries. Two miles north of Chapinero are several contiguous
dining and drinking quarters, including the Zona T aka Zona Rosa, Zona G (for “gourmet”) and Parque de la 93. While still chasing Peru as a gastronomic centre, Bogota chefs Harry Sasson and Leonor Espinosa are making waves, while out-of-town eatery Andres Carne de Res (and
busin e s s t r a ve lle r . c o m
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