PROCOLOMBIA's history
PROCOLOMBIA was born in November, 1992 and it the organization in charge of commercially promoting exportations, international tourism and foreign investment in Colombia.
Law 7 of 1991 regulates foreign trade from the country and creates the Ministry of Foreign Trade and the Foreign Trade Bank among other entities. It also provides authorizations and other provisions upon which the creation of PROCOLOMBIA occurs during the following year.
PROCOLOMBIA began in November 1991 as a trust with public resources and a private administrative regime, according to the guidelines established in decree 2505 of 1991. It was incorporated through the execution of a Commercial Trust Contract between the State; represented by Bancoldex, and the Foreign Trade Colombian Trust Fund (Fiduciaria Colombiana de Comercio Exterior S.A.) Known as Fiducoldex a subsidiary of Bancoldex. The resources with which this trust was created correspond to goods received by the former Proexpo and 25% of the shares of Bancoldex
PROCOLOMBIA was created with the objective of providing non-financial services or instruments for exportations and promoting the export culture.
During the execution of the Trust contract, Fiducoldex- in the capacity of Trust Fund – took over the administrative, financial and legal control of the trust in order for PROCOLOMBIA to focus exclusively on non-traditional exportation promotions.
Proexpo had been in charge of managing financial and non-financial instruments or services for exportations. In turn, PROCOLOMBIA was created with the objective of providing non-financial services or instruments for exportations and promoting the export culture.
In 1994, the Advisory Committee of PROCOLOMBIA adopted the strategic guidelines that remained until 1998 and in general terms were the foundation over which the future policies of the entity would lie. In 1998 the Strategic Exportation Plan was established as a result of a consensus and the commitment between the foreign trade system and all of the public entities related to the sector and the private sector. This lead to a State policy around internationalization which was coherent, coordinated and with clear action commitments from the national and regional Government and the corporate sector.
PROCOLOMBIA directs its management towards policies lead by the Ministry and assists on new responsibilities designated by the Presidency of the Republic.
In order to improve the impact of its activities and contribute in a more effective manner with the aforementioned objectives; a modification occurred within PROCOLOMBIA in August of 2002; its basis and guidelines appear in the Strategy Manual: “PROCOLOMBIA: Work Scheme for Generating an Impact”. (Esquema de Trabajo para Generar Impacto). The manual explains the meaning of going from a support model to a facilitation model. The first version was published on December 17th, 2002, and it included the strategy of the entity for the next following years.
In February 2003, the Ministries of Economic Development and Foreign Trade merged into a single Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism, with the objective of providing a more rational distribution of resources for improving the effectiveness of competitiveness and productivity programs for goods and services or national instruments, which is a mandatory requirement when entering and remaining in international markets.
In February 2003, the Ministries of Economic Development and Foreign Trade merged into a single Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism, with the objective of providing a more rational distribution of resources for improving the effectiveness of competitiveness and productivity programs for goods and services or national instruments.
As an entity associated to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and –Tourism (MCIT); PROCOLOMBIA directs its management towards policies lead by the Ministry and assists on new responsibilities designated by the Presidency of the Republic.
Currently PROCOLOMBIA is an organization in charge of commercially promoting exportations, international tourism and foreign investment in Colombia. Through the national and international branch office network, it offers support and comprehensive assistance to clients, through services or instruments directed to facilitating the design and execution of its internationalization strategy, which in turn seeks the generation, development and execution of business opportunities.