Obtaining money from a mistake

Colombia is undergoing major construction at this moment. Not only Bogota, Medellin or Cartagena, but ALL of Colombia. Roads are also being made to connect major cities with small towns and other smaller cities. One of the major projects taking place right now is the highway that will connect Bogota with Girardot. Girardot is a small touristic town that attracts locals and tourists each year.

Since the project started six yeas ago, only 74 of the 115 kilometers of the highway have been constructed; clearly, a slow process. Unfortunately Colombia is known for this. It takes a long time to construct or problems always arise. ANI: La Agencia Nacional de Infraestructura. (company in charge of the project) has decided they’ll take 67% of the tolls from Bogota-Girardot.

ANI’s president said that his goal is to force Girardot officials to speed up the project’s progress. Delaying this project for longer periods of time will cause money to both cities and the construction company. Hopefully this plan will in fact help with the highway construction.

Colombia: a third-world country

This week I wanted to change-up my blog from the typical current event to a more factual information that creates some debate.

What is the true definition of a third-world country? according to Wikipedia, it is based on social, economic and political conditions. Countries in Africa, Latin American and Asia are considered third-world countries. In some articles that I read, Colombia is considered a third-world country, but in others, it is considered a second-world country (also known as developing country). But what is the difference between these two?

Colombia could be considered a third-world country because of the abundant poverty that exists. As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, Colombia has both absolute and relative poverty. Absolute poverty is living in complete misery. No running water, electricity or food. People living out on the streets and begging for food. Obviously little to no education and sometimes these poor families engage in drug trafficking and violence because it is a ”last” resource.

On the other hand, Colombia could be considered a developing country for the following reasons. Colombia has metropolitan cities center of diverse culture, business and tourism. (ie, Bogota, Medellin, Cali, Cartagena and Barranquilla)  Colombia is a major exporter of oil resources, coffee, emeralds, flowers, textiles, etc.. Poverty is not necessarily an effect from lack of education or resources, but instead, it is a growing problem because of the high violence of the guerrillas and political corruption.

I know Colombia because I was born there and lived there until I was 10 years old. I’ve seen absolute poverty and clearly understand why it is called a third-world country. I’ve seen completely deplorable conditions that someone in this country would be shocked to see. But even though I have seen poverty and misery, I have also seen beautiful and developing things in Colombia that makes some people call it a developing country. More construction is happening at this very instant. Schools, offices, shopping centers are making an abundant contribute to the country.

I guess if someone wants to call Colombia a ”type” of country, it is up to each individual to do so based on the knowledge they each have about the country. Each country has good and bad things, and unfortunately some of these bad things make a country be labeled.

Coffee production keeps dropping

Unfortunately the coffee production in Colombia keeps dropping. The production has fallen 19% which is a pretty alarming rate. As I mentioned on my first post about the coffee production,  the weather has been a major cause of this. The excessive rain, foggy skies and obvious sunshine have damaged crops. The plan the government set forth in the beginning of this year to renew coffee crop houses has advanced at a rather slow rate.

In October 2010 Colombia produced 6,229,000 bags of coffee which each weights 120lbs. On October of this year the production only totaled 656,000. THAT IS A BIG DIFFERENCE. Why is this issue of big concern? Coffee is a major contributor to Colombian economy. Poor families in the Antioquia regions where coffee is produced earn a living from coffee crops.

This problem will affect these families, the Antioquia region, the bigger cities and ultimately the whole country’s economy. What can be done to solve this problem? From my opinion, nothing much. The government has set forth a plan which has worked bit by bit. Weather issues can’t be controlled; it’s just a matter of time and ”luck.”

Unemployment

Colombia’s population is of about 45 million people.  Of those people, only about 20.4 million people have jobs. Colombia’s unemployment rate is of 10%.

Even though the unemployment rate is high, Colombia is one of the countries in the region and even in the world that has that has generated employment; construction and the past U-20 world cup have played a major role in this. Even though there are good news of jobs this high unemployment rate is not good in the long-run. Something needs to be done.

One of the goals the President Juan Manuel Santos and other government officials have is to have that unemployment rate be of only one digit. If plans are undertaken starting now and more jobs are created, the unemployment rate could be 9.5% towards the end of 2012.

 

 

New Bogota’s mayor economic proposals.

The new elected mayor of Bogota, Gustavo Petra, has new proposals for Bogota’s citizens to ease up and increase the economic sector in the city. Petra is replacing Samuel Moreno, who was found and convicted of corruption dealing with money.

Some of the proposals Petra wants to undertake are: open up new kindergarten schools, 1000 with time, to accommodate 170,000 kids. Better health benefits for lower-middle class individuals. New medical equipment in hospitals. More inversion in the transportation system, Transmilenio, which will be built in the remaining important roads of Bogota; this means an investment of $1.7 billion pesos. Petra also wants to build houses for the needy; 18,000 houses each year for the four years he will be as a Mayor. These proposals and others equal about $14.7 billion pesos.

How is Petra going to finance all of these plans? The city of Bogota has an ”income” of $10 billion pesos annually. Of these money, 85% goes to construction or other plans that are already underway.The remaining 15% ($1.5 billion pesos) will go to the new Mayor Petra. What about the remaining money needed? Borrowed money, and income from other construction projects that will be finalized this year.}

All of these plans have one goal: to benefit Bogota’s citizens and its economy. Let’s just hope Petra actually sets his foot forward and does each single one of them. Bogota has already faced much corruption from its ex-mayor: Samuel Moreno.

 

Is this what you call a salary??

I hope I am not being too redundant with my salary posts, but the majority of articles I come across are mostly about that. I’ve learned that Colombia is one of the countries with the crappiest, for lack of a better word, salaries in the world. As I’ve already mentioned, those poor families that earn a salary, barely cover their basic expenses. But now, let’s look at salaries at a different viewpoint.

Business administration, a good career that most likely would have a good pay. How much? Let’s say $38,000 USD per year. That’s in my personal opinion a good income to have. How much does someone, on average, with a Business Administration degree earn in Colombia? $1, 867, 116 Colombian pesos. (less then $933 USD) (It all depends on how much the dollar is in pesos).

Some people in the United States, without a college degree could make that money working 40 hours a week at a grocery store, or a factory let’s say. People that commented this article where I got my information from, say that Colombia is making changes that are not significant.

I love my country with all my heart, but I am well aware of its problems and that’s why I want to talk about them. I would love for everyone to be informed of a sad reality that is lived in a third-world country. Most of us, if not all, here in the United States, are blessed to have everything we do.

 

Minimum salary

In the United States most of the jobs are based on hourly wages; you earn a set amount, let’s say $7.50 per hour and work a set based of hours a week. Other jobs in the United States are based on salaries. In Colombia earnings are only based on salaries. You might work 20 or 60 hours per week, but your salary each month will be the same.

This coming December the minimum salary will increment. The current minimum salary in Colombia is of almost $575,000 colombian pesos (which is less than $300 USD per month). This current minimum salary increased 3.8% from the previous one. The new salary that will be set forth in December is expected to be 4.1% higher than the current one.

Even though this is a minimum salary, poor families in Colombia make much less money than that. As it is expected, each family’s lifestyle will vary depending on their income. As I’ve previously mentioned, one of the biggest economic issues Colombia has is that it has high percentages in economic inequality amongst its citizens and its minimum salary is a misery. The Colombian government wants to make changes and slowly but surely it is doing it so.

 

Pros and Cons of Colombia’s economy

As mentioned before, the Colombian economy has been stable since the 2008’s recession.  The countries that have been affected the most since the recession are the United States, Latin American Countries, and Europe. Obviously, negative issues still persist for Colombia.

One of the areas where the recession has been more subtle is in Asia. One of the issues Colombia has is that it does not have strong ties with Asia. Colombia’s commerce is mostly concentrated in the United States and Europe. If the recession still persists for a long time, which unfortunately is most likely to happen, Colombia would not want to be affected. If the United State’s economy and Europe’s economy goes downhill, it is more than likely Colombia’s will too.

For this not to happen to Colombia, commerce should be established with Asia. More exports should be sent to Asia in a regular basis. At the moment, Colombia’s economy is stable and has not suffered severely from the recession. Economists and politicians say that now is the time for Colombia and Asia to start working in commerce before it is too late for Colombia. Colombia has to make plans well in advance before problems sneak up.

 

http://www.portafolio.co/economia/%E2%80%98no-hay-que-creer-que-somos-los-menos-vulnerables%E2%80%99

More construction projects for Colombia

The United States is still experiencing problems from the recession that occurred in 2008. The recession not only affected the US, but it affected the whole world. GDP’s decreased, numerous jobs were lost, and the housing market went downhill. Colombia was also affected by the recession, but its GDP instead of decreasing, increased.

Things in Colombia, economically speaking, are much better today then they were 20 years ago. Even though things are indeed better, they are not the best and they are not perfect. As I mentioned on one of my previous posts, the world can see Colombia’s economy is well underway because of all the construction projects in the big cities. Construction projects range from new houses, apartments, offices, roads, transportation systems, malls, shopping areas, etc…

These new projects create new jobs, better streets and a better look for each city. The estimated cost for the new projects that will start beginning of next year is 40 billion pesos ( around $200 million USD) It’ll be 5,000 kilometers of new and improved roads and 1,000 kilometers of railroad tracks. These roads will communicate cities with small towns and the transportation of goods will be much easier. The new project is still under discussion and revisal. Hopefully it’ll bring positive outcomes to Colombia.

Coffee production is going downhill

Colombia is known as the best and first coffee producer in the world. This year shows the biggest decline in coffee production. Coffee production decreased 29.3% from 2007 to 2010 and August marked another decline of 6%. The decrease on coffee production is also affecting significantly the coffee exports. The month of July showed a 15.2% decrease on exports. These numbers are alarming because coffee is the number one agricultural product to be exported. Weather conditions are the cause for such low numbers in production. El Eje Cafetero, which is the surrounding areas of the popular city Medellin, is usually an area of hot climate with moderate rain. But during the months of May through August, rain greatly increments which affects coffee crops.

Colombians are positive that this problem will not persist. They know that towards the end and beginning of a year, weather conditions are just perfect for coffee growth. Once things do get better, 9 million sacos (big bags) of coffee will be produced which means more export. Even though this is good news, things will not be as great as they were before. In order to get back in track, it’ll take two years of hard work.

The land has been worked, more areas have been cleared for production which means jobs are created. This is a good outcome of the problem. Hopefully things will slowly but surely get better. Coffee is such a vital product to Colombians that their eyes are set on the prize.