- Colombia has diversified its exports through a comprehensive approach that builds companies’ export capacity, promotes the country’s exports abroad, and attracts investment.
- This approach has strengthened the country's capacity to export knowledge-based services—including digital, tech, and professional services— while modernizing how the government promotes exports and foreign investment.
For decades, Colombia has sought to diversify its economy and reduce its reliance on a handful of traditional export sectors. Despite those efforts, exports remained concentrated in a few industries with low productive complexity, making it harder for the country to compete globally and attract high-value foreign investment.
To address this challenge, Colombia launched an ambitious strategy with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to help more companies export knowledge-based services, including digital, tech, and professional services, and to modernize government support for exporters and investors. These transformative efforts are already delivering measurable results with long-term benefits.
A Comprehensive Strategy for International Growth
The Program to Support the Diversification and Internationalization of the Colombian Economy was built on a simple idea: businesses and institutions need to grow stronger together. Supporting companies alone is not enough if public institutions are not equipped to help them succeed, and stronger institutions alone cannot deliver results if companies are unable to compete. With that in mind, the program supported every stage of the process, from preparing companies to export to promoting Colombian businesses abroad and helping attract investment.
Through an innovative, “end-to-end” combination of financing, technical assistance, and specialized expertise, the program helped strengthen businesses, modernize public institutions, expand the use of digital tools, and improve evidence-based decision-making.
This comprehensive approach helped address long-standing obstacles that had slowed Colombia's international expansion. The IDB contributed technical expertise and international best practices that helped shape the program and bring it in line with global standards.
The program also strengthened the government agencies leading the effort by upgrading their digital and institutional systems, helping ensure results would endure over time. In addition, the project fostered a culture of evidence-based management through new monitoring and evaluation systems that provide data to guide policy decisions.
Higher Revenue, New Exporters, and Surging Exports
The program has delivered clear results, particularly in the knowledge-based services sector. In total, more than 1,800 companies across 20 regions of the country received support to improve their productivity, sophistication, and ability to export.
Among the 620 companies that participated in business development programs, average revenue rose by 25%, assets grew by 16%, and employment increased by 11%—strong signs of a structural increase in the business sector’s competitiveness.
In addition, 282 companies received export training, and 105 became exporters for the first time. Together, they generated $70 million in exports. An impact evaluation found that participating companies outperformed their peers, with export values 77% higher and a 58% greater likelihood of exporting. Another 958 companies took part in business matchmaking events, generating more than $15.4 million in immediate sales.
Overall, annual export growth among the companies supported by the program more than doubled—from 1.9% to 4.7% between 2019 and 2023—suggesting a broader shift in the knowledge-based services sector’s position in international markets.
Strengthening Colombia's Investment Ecosystem
The program's impact extended beyond businesses. It also helped improve how Colombia attracts and supports foreign investment. The Ministry of Commerce and ProColombia strengthened their ability to attract, support, and retain investors while creating new digital infrastructure to make it easier for companies to invest in Colombia. The result is a single portal centralizing 310 government procedures and 55 investment projects, which UN Trade and Development ranks 29th among 185 similar platforms worldwide.
The program also helped transform ProColombia into a more proactive investment promotion agency that not only attracts investors but also helps them establish operations and connect with local suppliers. As a result, between 2020 and 2024, Colombia secured 824 investment projects worth more than $34 billion, generating 380,000 jobs.
Resilient Policies for Lasting Growth
Implementing the program was not without challenges. One of the biggest was the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced planners to revise timelines and quickly shift activities online. These challenges were compounded by the need to coordinate multiple institutions and adapt to changes in government leadership. Even so, the program's comprehensive and flexible design helped it stay on course. One lesson stands out: public policies are more resilient to change and disruptions when they are grounded in evidence, supported by strong coordination, and guided by a long-term vision.
Colombia's experience shows what is possible when business support, stronger institutions, and digital transformation converge. With the right strategy, emerging economies can compete more effectively in global markets and create lasting, inclusive growth.