European delegation, allured by innovation and technology breakthroughs in Cali

After connecting to Valle del Cauca’s value proposition and getting to know its economic potential during the Forum ‘A Daring Valle’, carried out on September 27^th last in the city of Cali, commercial attachés, and business foremen from Portugal, Austria, Italy and the European Union, visited Zonamerica Colombia, the first Outsourced Service Free Trade Zone operating in the south of Cali.

The European delegation was able to see Zonamerica’s initial phase, which already has the first of 18 buildings to be constructed within this great business campus.  They likewise envisioned the city’s economic potential in the service sector and in terms of competitive costs, human talent, and life quality, which marked the difference for the capital of Valle to settle on this Free Trade Zone.      

Zonamerica Colombia – General Manager Jaime Miller, explained commercial attachés, and business foremen that Cali was chosen because “This municipality contributes with about 5% of Colombia’s GDP, while 40% of its population are between 18 and 35 years of age.  The south of Cali has a privileged location, as most of its academic cluster is located there, being surrounded by universities and schools, among others”.

In his turn, during the visit, Julian Gonzalez, the Economic Development Secretary of Cali’s City Hall, commented: “It is important to attract further foreign investment, and develop technology transfer businesses, just as Etix Everywhere is doing in Zonamerica, since Valle needs to be developed and transformed in that way, particularly by the hand of the European Union”

Etix Everywhere is a data center global provider and operator from France, which was also present at the ‘A Daring Valle’ Forum; the firm partnered with Compunet, the local company that offers SAP managed solutions, ‘cloud’ and mobility throughout the Andean region, to build and operate a state of the art data center on the Service Free Trade Zone, thus attracting more technology to the region.  

The good moment for Cali’s entrepreneurship

The European delegation also visited Vimob, another company from Cali, led by Colectivo Creativo (Creative Collectiveness), a local entrepreneurship that has the strategic support of Cali’s City Hall and Chamber of Commerce, and Invest Pacific, and that has already been recognized overseas for building modular housing with creative designs, able to provide the basic spaces of a traditional construction, with ecofriendly, practical, flexible and modern prototypes.    

Colectivo Creativo’s founder -Felipe Lerma, also outlines: “We’ve been working for ten years with our architect studio endeavor, and with Vimob project since 2015.  It is not easy to venture, but if you have determination and perseverance, then you are able to find the institutions and spaces that help you boost your idea.  We’ve already started exploring export strategies for our houses, so receiving a visit of this stature, opens our minds beyond to achieve the dream to export and reach a larger market!”   

Visits done to Zonamerica and Vimob were accompanied by Cali’s City Hall, Invest Pacific and the European Union delegation.

More information:

Andrea del Pilar Barrero
Marketing and Communications Director
Email: abarrero@investpacific.org