Bogota leads Latin-American ranking on foreign investment in software and IT

BOGOTA, Sept. 25, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Bogota, capital of Colombia, has become one of the main Latin-American destinations for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in software and Information Technologies (IT). According to Invest in Bogota, the city received more than 900 million dollars in investments through 90 projects for this sector between 2013 and 2018. These projects, which generated more than 6,000 jobs, place Bogota above regional capitals such as Lima, Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile and Mexico City in terms of FDI.

During 2018, the city received about 15 projects with over 300 million dollars of investment, generating more than 700 jobs for the city.

Some recent examples of international companies that have arrived to Bogota or that have expanded their operations include Globant, an Argentine software development company that has 1,500 employees in the city; Grupo Mantu, a Swiss firm that, through Amaris Consulting brand, opened its global robotic process automation center; iXerv LAC, a technology and consulting company that is opening a software development center; Zemoga, US digital services firm that employs about 100 people in the city, or Endava, a public technology company founded in 2000 that has accelerated growth in its 23 locations, seven of them in Latin America.  

"Bogotá has a very good international reputation and is seen as a regional center of innovation and development. This is reflected in the growing number of technology companies that decide to be in the city and, in many cases, make it their regional hub," said the executive director of Invest in Bogota, Juan Gabriel Pérez.

Talent, a decisive factor

Human talent is the key factor that, in companies' opinion, makes Colombia and Bogota stand out from other destinations when attracting FDI in the software and IT services industry.

"When we arrived to Colombia, we were quite surprised by the high academic level, even higher than what we found in neighboring countries", says Simón Lepas, regional director of Amaris Consulting.

Between 2007 and 2017, Bogota registered more than 108.000 professionals graduated in programs related to computer science and systems, reaching an average annual growth of 6%. In addition, the city has 71% of the country's bilingual talent.

"We are a company with a 99% Colombian talent that works with very high-level companies that recognize the knowledge, quality and experience of the human talent in Bogota," says Carlos Pardo, executive VP of Zemoga.

SOURCE Invest in Bogotá