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Colombia’s president says Japan is looking again at the country as an investment destination
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Economy & Trade

Colombia’s president says Japan is looking again at the country as an investment destination

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire From a news agency New plan
  • Colombia and Japan agreed to instruct their teams to seek a restart of negotiations on an Economic Partnership Agreement after nearly 15 years of stalled talks.
  • President Abelardo de la Espriella said Colombia wants Japanese companies to consider investments in manufacturing, electric mobility, energy, digital infrastructure, innovation and technology.
  • The government is seeking to reopen Mazda vehicle assembly in Colombia and encourage Toyota to assess electric-vehicle projects there.

Colombia’s president says his government wants Japan to look at the country again as a place to invest, after the two sides took steps toward reviving negotiations on a trade agreement.

“We are working so that Japan looks at us again as an investment destination,” Abelardo de la Espriella said in a televised address. He said Commerce Minister Mauricio Gómez Amín had met major Japanese companies including Toshiba, Toyota and Mazda.

We are working so that Japan looks at us again as an investment destination.

— Abelardo de la EspriellaThe Colombian president described efforts to attract Japanese investment.

The meetings explored possible investment in manufacturing, electric mobility, energy, digital infrastructure, innovation and technology. De la Espriella said Colombia wants Mazda, which closed its plant in the country in 2014, to return to vehicle assembly. He also said the government wants Toyota to consider electric-vehicle projects in Colombia.

We will give them every guarantee here.

— Abelardo de la EspriellaHe said Colombia would provide assurances to potential Japanese investors.

Gómez Amín met Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi in Tokyo on Thursday. They agreed to direct their respective teams to look for ways to restart talks on an Economic Partnership Agreement covering agroindustry, investment and technology transfer.

“After nearly 15 years of stalled negotiations, in the first 15 days of my government we managed to take significant steps to unblock the economic partnership agreement between Colombia and Japan,” de la Espriella said. The president took office on Aug. 7 and said the government also aims to open markets for Colombian products, bring in technology and create opportunities for agriculture and industry.

After nearly 15 years of stalled negotiations, in the first 15 days of my government we managed to take significant steps to unblock the economic partnership agreement between Colombia and Japan.

— Abelardo de la EspriellaHe highlighted the progress made on restarting bilateral trade negotiations.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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