Newsletter 36 – Cali obtains USD $7 million in foreign investment in 2020 for its economic revival
Thanks to a strategic alliance between Invest Pacific and the Mayor’s office of Cali, through the Secretary of Economic Development, the city has managed to materialize the arrival of 10 foreign companies that will generate approximately 1,200 direct jobs and an investment of more than USD $7 million with their initial operation in Valle del Cauca’s capital.
What are the companies that have arrived in the city and what is their offer?
One of the first companies to announce its arrival in Cali is the multinational company Alorica, a US based world-class call center and customer experience service company which is one of the top 3 companies of this sector globally and has more than 100 branches in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific. It is currently in the process of establishing a global bilingual contact center service operation in Cali.
Another company that announced its arrival to the city in 2020 is of Nicaraguan origin and specializes in Business Process Outsourcing (Call centers, accounting services, web design, and information and data processing). It serves markets in the United States, Europe and Asia and will soon make its official announcement of the bilingual customer service operation in Cali for a video game giant.
In the midst of this complex context for the city in health matters, a recognized Venezuelan chain of pharmacies will arrive, in charge of marketing medicines, personal care products, beauty, home products and groceries. It is in the process of opening its stores throughout the city.
The fourth company that announced this year its decision to establish its operations in Cali, Patagonian IT, is from Argentina and is dedicated to the development and innovation of software, which provides solutions in: Product incubation, IT management and outsourcing of technological processes. Its intention is to generate jobs for qualified human talent for the technology sector.
Another company already installed in Cali is the Costa Rican company Avantica Technologies, which opened its new software development center in Cali in February this year. Avantica also has commercial offices in Silicon Valley, California and New York (USA). It has nine development centers between Costa Rica, Peru, Bolivia and now Cali-Colombia, in a branch located in the Zonamerica campus, a technology park and global services free zone. Despite the pandemic, the company’s operation has strengthened and today continues to open different jobs for developers, both virtual and face-to-face.
Last but not least, a Mexican IT company, oriented to the development of an application for the purchase and delivery of products at home, seeks to expand its market by implementing its digital platform in Cali this year.
Foreign investment that contributes to Cali's economic revival
These companies represent an opportunity to reduce the unemployment and informality figures that have increased during the pandemic. For Argemiro Cortés Buitrago, secretary of economic development of Cali, the arrival of these companies facilitates the process of economic revival in the city: “As long as we attract domestic or foreign direct investment, we will foster the conditions to overcome the economic crisis to which we have been exposed during the pandemic. As a District State, we want to generate all the right conditions for private capital to arrive to the city, for it to be installed and help us diversify the supply of services, but also to have better conditions for decent and quality employment as the people of Cali deserve”.
“From Invest Pacific we are committed to work day by day to encourage the social and economic development of Cali. We have been doing it hand in hand with different entities and sectors of the city, including the Mayor’s Office of Cali, through the Secretary of Economic Development, to continue positioning the competitive advantages of our beloved Cali and the positive impact that foreign direct investment has been generating for its people,” said Alejandro Ossa Cárdenas, executive director of Invest Pacific.
From the Secretary of Economic Development of Cali, it is projected that by 2021, with the support of Invest Pacific (the region’s investment promotion agency), FDI figures for the services sector (specifically BPO operations) can reach USD $12 million and generate around 1,380 jobs, with the establishment of five foreign companies in the city.
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