Colombia’s outsourcing sector is expected to benefit from the growing presence of foreign companies in the country. Foreign direct investment; predominately from Spain, the US, the UK, and Argentina, has increased by 28% in the past few years.

Investors view Colombia as a viable investment from a financial, economic, and tax perspective. The local market presents growth opportunities across various industries and investors can set up operations in over nine cities across the country.

Of the nearly 3,000 companies providing outsourcing services across Colombia, 1,284 offer Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services, providing contact centre, HR, finance & accounting, logistics, and back office services, according to research and consultancy firm Grans Consulting.

A further 862 firms offer Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO), while 830 are Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) firms.

The vast majority of outsourcing firms in Colombia are SME; comprising 41% small and 33% medium sized. Only 12% of outsourcing firms are can be considered large companies.

Additionally, most of the companies are Colombian-owned, with several national players operating both across the country and internationally.

Martin Padulla, Managing Director of staffingamericalatina, an independent media company specialising in Latin American labour markets, commented: “It is very interesting to observe the remarkable change of image Colombia has had for international investors. Investment in industries that are not mining or energy has grown; a fact confirmed by reports such as the World Bank Group’s “Doing Business 2015” report, which states that Colombia is the friendliest country in Latin America to do business.”

Originally published by Staffing Industry Analysts