18 airlines enable the best air connectivity in Medellín’s history

Medellín has the best air connectivity in its history, thanks to the work done by the District Administration to promote new routes that expand the connection with the world. The city has 13 international routes to 19 cities and 29 domestic destinations with direct flights.

In 2022, the Antioquian capital had the best hotel occupancy in its history with 77%.

“One of the reasons why tourists from around the world prefer a destination is because of air connectivity; that is why we have worked to make it easier to reach the city, hand in hand with the private sector, working to connect us with more and more cities in the world. We went from 12 cities to 19; we are much more connected so that our tourists and businessmen can be linked to our offer and enjoy Medellín. In 2022 we had the best year in visits, an unprecedented figure, and in 2023 we expect more than 1,500,000 people to arrive,” said the Secretary of Economic Development, Mauricio Valencia.

The city has 13 international routes to 19 cities and 29 domestic destinations with direct flights.

The Antioquian capital recorded an increase of more than 45% of passengers since 2019 when there were 929,830; in 2020, in pandemic, there were 305,347; in 2021, the figure was 786,730, and last year, with a historic tourist reactivation, there were a total of 1,386,153 travelers. The 10 countries where visitors come from are the United States, Panama, Mexico, Peru, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Spain, Chile and Ecuador.

Medellin has 13 international routes to destinations such as Argentina, Aruba, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Curacao, Spain, United States, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Dominican Republic; 19 cities including Oranjestad, Balboa, Buenos Aires, Cancun, Curacao, Fort Lauderdale, Havana, Lima, Madrid, Mexico City, Miami, New York, Orlando, Panama City, Punta Cana, San Jose, Santiago de Chile, Santo Domingo and Sao Paulo; and 18 airlines: Aeromexico, Air Europa, American, Arajet, Avianca, Copa, Easy, Ez air, Jet air, Jet Blue, Jetsmart, Latam, Sarpa, Satena, Spirit, Ultra, Viva and Wingo.

In addition, there are direct flights to 29 destinations in Colombia, including Arauca, Armenia, Bahía Solano, Barranquilla, Bogotá, Bucaramanga, Cali, Carepa, Cartagena, Corozal, Cúcuta, Florencia, Ibagué, Manizales, Mompox, Montería, Neiva, Nuquí, Pasto, Pereira, Popayán, Quibdó, Riohacha, San Andrés, Santa Marta, Tolú, Valledupar, Villavicencio and Yopal.

“We have seen Colombia as a strategic partner. On this occasion we are talking about Medellín, one of the destinations that undoubtedly becomes a pillar for Arajet, since the Dominican Republic and Colombia have been building a commercial and tourism relationship. Now, with Arajet, we are uniting Santo Domingo with Medellín, which will contribute to culture, tourism and entrepreneurship”, said Arajet’s CEO, Víctor Pacheco.

According to the Annual Statistical Report of the Hotel and Tourism Association of Colombia (COTELCO), hotel occupancy in 2022 was the highest in the city’s history, at 77%, establishing that 53.1% of guests were foreigners and 46.9% nationals. The vast majority of passengers stay more than 4 nights in the city; 22.1 % of visitors stay between 4 and 5 nights; 21.1 % between 6 and 7 nights; 15.4 %, about 22 nights or more and 14.1 % stay between 14 and 21 nights. The remaining percentage stays between 1 and 3 nights.

In March, Avianca Airlines is expected to open a new route to Quito and Guayaquil, thus continuing to connect Medellín with the entire world and facilitating the arrival of more than 1,500,000 people by 2023.

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ACI Medellín announces the appointment of Juan Camilo Mergesh as the new executive director of the entity

Juan Camilo Mergesh is a lawyer from the Universidad Externado de Colombia and has a Master’s degree in Law, Economics and Management from the University of Paris II Panthon-Assas in France, with a professional profile oriented to the preparation and structuring of public contracts, concessions and public-private partnerships in public development projects.

“I put at the disposal of ACI Medellin my knowledge and experience acquired within a law firm specialized in public procurement in Bogota, as well as my work experience in France, initially with the management of the company TRACTEBEL S.A. – ENGIE, where I participated in the negotiation, drafting and legal monitoring of project management in France and non-French speaking countries, and then within the firms GB2A lawyers and G4 lawyers, where I assisted in the structuring and legal closure of civil engineering projects in France,” said Juan Camilo, new executive director of ACI Medellin.

Mergesh, receives ACI Medellin with successful results in 2022 in cooperation and investment with indicators that include the attraction of USD $ 148 million in foreign companies that generated about 3,500 new jobs and USD $ 7.4 million in technical and financial cooperation for projects related to the townships, street dwellers, among many others.

One of the highlights in 2022 corresponded to the technical cooperation announced by the C40 Network for the development of Parques del Río Norte, a project that will change the face of the Popular and Santa Cruz neighborhoods and will benefit more than 390,000 people.

“I am part of a common dream of making our city a pole of development and innovation that will lead us to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, always aiming to close the inequality gaps by generating employment opportunities, development and modernization. I am happy to put my knowledge and experience at the service of Medellín and the region,” concluded the new director.

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Medellin is officially a District of Science, Technology and Innovation in Colombia.

This Monday, November 16, the President of the Republic, Gustavo Petro, sanctioned Law 2286 of 2023 that officially converts Medellin as the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Colombia, which allows boosting the city as one of the cities with the highest economic performance in the region, positioning it at national and international level, having technology as the engine of transformation.

With the Law, the District of Medellín will grant tax exemptions for the promotion of science, technology and innovation activities to technology-based companies that settle in the city.

With this new law, Medellín is endowed with the competencies and legal resources to establish its political, administrative and fiscal regime, in addition to promoting its integral development by taking advantage of the opportunities of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

“This grants tax benefits to companies that are created or move to our territory to develop Software companies, technology companies. In addition, it provides more autonomy that will allow us to invest resources, with a CTeI fund, in education, social issues, health issues,” said the mayor of Medellin, Daniel Quintero Calle.

There will be direct access, without intermediaries, to international resources through International Cooperation.

In addition, the law authorizes the District Council to create the Pro-Innovation Stamp to finance the Science, Technology and Innovation System, at the initiative of the district mayor.

Medellín will now be able to define Special Treatment Zones to strengthen and facilitate all types of activities focused on Science, Technology and Innovation, enhancing sectors and seeking urban renewal, high accessibility, connectivity and reindustrialization.

“The law will allow us to advance in our great bet of Medellin Software Valley and that is making that, not only thousands of people study information technologies in the city, but even that many are moving to the city. That is why the invitation is: if you are a technology lover, this is your city; if you are a company and want to find the best place in Latin America to set up, Medellín is the right place because Everything Flourishes Here”, added the district governor.

Medellín will have more autonomy over the resources of the Nation in health and education issues, including procedures in the departmental entity.

In 2022, the Congress approved in the plenary session of the Senate the Organic Law, which regulated the functioning of the city as a Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation. Among other provisions is the renaming of local authorities from municipal to district, in addition to allowing the city to count on the participation of Innpulsa and the Ministries of Information Technology and Communications, Commerce, Industry and Tourism and Education for a direct articulation of the District Government with the National Government.

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In the last year, Medellín has attracted close to USD $ 148 million in foreign investment.

During the last year, through the Agency for Cooperation and Investment of Medellin and the Metropolitan Area -ACI Medellin-, the city reported a total of 20 foreign investment projects, which represented close to USD $ 148 million and 3,500 new jobs generated, thanks to the previous year’s efforts to attract resources from abroad.

20 international companies set up in the capital of Antioquia to expand their operations, including Farmatodo, Dollarcity, Positive Thinking, Concentrix, Sana Commerce, Fresh Works, Rootstrap, Rush and Genius Sport.

For the director of Local and International Relations of ACI Medellin, Jonathan Ballesteros, “2022 was a year in which investment and cooperation went from being an important issue to become fundamental allies for the development of the city. I must highlight that more than 500 delegates from countries such as Spain, Denmark, Argentina, Brazil, United Kingdom, United States, France and Belgium, among many others, have come to Medellín to learn first-hand about the projects that are transforming us into an Ecocity and a Software Valley, in order to replicate them in their territories.”

In the year 2022, ACI Medellin celebrated 20 years of existence in which USD $ 3.4 billion in investment have been managed, with more than 200 companies installed and close to 25. Likewise, in international cooperation, it has managed, in these two decades, more than USD $ 115 million in projects such as CITRA (Integrated Transportation Center), which was recently completed and left the city a modern information system that allows improving mobility, thanks to an agreement with South Korea, which became the largest cooperation project, with USD $ 12 million.

Ambassadors, ministers and more than 500 delegates from different parts of the world visited the city projects and opened up possibilities for investment and cooperation.

The manager of the Medellin branch of Lean Solutions Group, William Garrido, stated that “the growth of the company in Medellin has been quite accelerated, surpassing the barrier of 200 employees before the first year and a projection for mid-2023 to occupy 350 or 360. We have every confidence to occupy the position of the best city for the company in the whole country”.

One of the highlights of this year is the technical cooperation announced by the C40 Network for the development of Parques del Río Norte, a project that will change the face of the Popular and Santa Cruz districts and will benefit more than 390,000 people.

This year, Mayor Daniel Quintero Calle participated in the world forum of C40 mayors in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in which he gave a message to the world to stop the production of gasoline cars from 2035, a signal that was very well received at the event.

The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with cities such as Buenos Aires, Barcelona and Recife will increase the exchange of best practices and technical cooperation and investment between these territories and Medellin.

In national and international technical and financial cooperation, USD $ 7.4 million were reported.

As a result of this work with cities around the world, ten “Why Medellin” events were held this year with businessmen from Spain, Dubai, Chile, Mexico, Brazil and the United States, in which the reasons why the capital of Antioquia is a safe and reliable destination for companies from other countries were made known.

Barcelona continues to be Medellín’s sister city. An example of this is the Barcelona Solidaria program, which supported 13 projects with close to 1.1 million euros, including Rutas de Siembra, executed in partnership with Antioqueños por el Mundo and Comfenalco, a project that serves farmers in the Santa Elena district.

The entity’s management through international relations has a direct impact on development, as evidenced by the Return on Investment (ROI) indicator, which shows that for every peso that enters the ACI Medellin budget, COP $ 14 is managed in cooperation and COP $ 186 in investment, in addition to the results that are not accounted for in financial resources, but in job creation, for example.

The agency’s work for the arrival of new cooperation and investment projects begins with the identification of countries, companies, public or private entities, international networks, among others, that are interested in working with Medellín or investors seeking to settle in the territory.

Once the investment or cooperation project is installed, the resources are used to build the necessary infrastructure for its operation, hiring personnel and the arrival of people from other countries who will come to live alone or with their families, which stimulates tourism, housing, education, transportation and food, among others.

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Innovecs opens in Medellin its first office for Latin America

The US company opened its first Latin American office in Medellin to serve its clients in Europe and North America. In the short and medium term, they plan to have a team of 50 developers for Unity 3D, full-stack, backend, .NET, Automation QA, and provide other career opportunities for engineers in various projects.

Innovecs is a digital transformation company that creates solutions driven by innovative technologies and incorporates emerging trends to help businesses transform and grow; they create from scratch and customize the tools to make their products enterprise-scale.

The major reasons why they settled in Medellin are the abundant talent with great potential and attitude to work and a will to be part of international companies; the mastery of a second language such as English; the kind-heartedness and striving to work with people; the easy adaptation to rapidly changing environments in technology companies, and especially, the robust promotion of the IT talent training by governments and private organizations.

The development of a solid base of experts allowed Innovecs to transform from a team of several people to a trusted player in the software development industry, as well as to open offices in the United States, Europe, Israel, Ukraine, Australia, and now in Medellin.

Alex Lutskiy, the Founder and CEO of Innovecs, mentions that “the main driver of the company’s development is the community of 850 gifted team members worldwide who provide technology competency services to our clients, in addition to a specific organizational culture focused on the people’s well-being and a community-based ecosystem approach”.

For him, the Colombian IT sector proves itself in application development, game development, mobile application development, and other custom software products, which are closely aligned with the company’s services. “Colombia has one of the highest rates of engineering graduates in LATAM and also a booming technology scene with the fastest growing IT sector in Latin America”, — he says.

Finally, for Jonathan Ballesteros, director of Local and International Relations of ACI Medellin, “Innovecs belongs to foreign companies that are seeing our city as a strategic destination for installing their operations due to the abundant talent, strategic location, air connectivity and of course the warmness of our people. Apart from technology companies, businesses from other sectors such as infrastructure, commerce, and life sciences see this region as the epicenter of the operations at a local and international level.”

In its 20 years of existence, ACI Medellin has drawn over 200 enterprises and close to 3.5 billion dollars in investment with companies such as Farmatodo, Mercado Libre, Dollarcity, Pricesmart, Decathlon, Sofasa Renault, and many others. This reflects how the articulated collaboration between the public, private and academic sectors bears fruit for society. 

* Photographs of work teams in other parts of the world

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Talent from our Comuna 13 arrives to one of the best technology companies in the world

Johan Herrera, an inhabitant of the San Javier neighborhood in the Comuna 13 of Medellin, tells us how he became a Senior Developer at Endava, one of the most recognized technology companies worldwide, currently operating in Bogota, Medellin and Cali since 2016.

This company born in London, England in 2000, has more than 10 thousand employees worldwide, of which more than 1000 are in Colombia. These “Endavans”, as they call their employees, come to the company seduced by the good reputation of the company in addition to the training plans and support offered for their development.

Alajandra Arango, Andaba Senior Tester
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Medellin shared with Brazil the best practices that consolidate it as an international benchmark for Smart Tourist Destinations

For its innovation, technology, sustainability, governance and accessibility, Medellin is a leader and benchmark in the Americas for its management model for Smart Tourist Destinations, according to SEGITTUR, the Spanish entity that certifies this type of destinations worldwide. For this reason, the capital of Antioquia received the visit of a delegation composed of 20 delegates from Brazil belonging to the governmental, academic and business sectors, with the objective of learning, through knowledge transfer, the good practices of the city as a Smart Tourist Destination.

Between 2021 and 2022, Medellin has led more than 40 knowledge transfer sessions with cities in Colombia and other countries in the Americas.

The group learned about Medellín’s Smart Tourism certification process, its achievements and challenges. Also, they learned about tourism applications such as Medellín Travel (the official travel guide) and Medellín City Card (the digital passport for parks and attractions), and visited the Smart Tourism Center (first in the country).

“We are very pleased to be able to share with our friends from Brazil all the knowledge around what is the transformation of the smart tourism information system and what we have been doing to position Medellín as the first Smart Tourism Destination in Colombia,” said the Undersecretary of Tourism, Ledys López.

Between 2021 and 2022, more than 40 benchmarking sessions have been held, in which good practices were shared and knowledge was transferred to cities in Colombia and other countries in the Americas. In them, actions such as training focused on smart tourism destination, the stimulus program for sustainability, the reactivation of the tourism sector and the tourism culture strategy, among others, have been highlighted.

“I have come from Brazil to learn more about tourism development here in the city of Medellin. We came with the commission to learn how Medellin has formed a Smart City and a Smart Tourism Destination. I am looking forward to going back to Brazil with the good practices I am learning about here to put them into practice and turn them into projects in my province, Paraná, and in the south of Brazil, and develop smart tourism as they are doing here”, said Patricia Albanez, representative of the Brazilian Government.

About 65 entities have participated in the process of making Medellin the first Intelligent Tourism Destination in Colombia, including public, private, mixed, guilds and tourism service providers, which have provided information on the projects, programs and activities being developed.

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Holberton Colombia, a Silicon Valley academy consolidating our Software Valley

This programming academy founded in San Francisco, cradle of the most prestigious technology companies in the world such as Google, Facebook and Apple, arrived in Medellin in 2019 to train thousands of people as software developers.

Their calls for new talents who want to join their training programs, are open 3 times a year and apply to all types of people who have a certain level of English and who want to dedicate themselves to technology as a new professional vocation.

We share a video about Christian Martinez, a citizen who found in this academy his working life option.

We also invite you to listen to this podcast in Spanish with Christian Martinez, participant of Holberton Colombia and Paula Forero, marketing coordinator of the company.

If you want more information about the training programs you can access the following [ here ]

 

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Medellín emerges as the it development capital of Latin America

The technology industry is currently accelerating economic growth and job development in the world. In Colombia, the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) GDP grew 10% during the second quarter of 2021, compared to the same period in 2020. Following that route, Medellin has moved forward with its “Medellin Software Valley” strategy, with which it seeks to become the epicenter city of this industry in Latin America.

Along with this article you can download the full report of the ACI Medellin and Technology by PageGroup in English. [ Here ]

According to the study “Medellin, capital of IT development in Latin America” conducted by the Agency for Cooperation and Investment of Medellin – ACI Medellin and Technology by PageGroup – Business Unit specialized in recruiting profiles for technology companies – the software and Information Technology (IT) services sector represents 6% of the total amount of foreign investment and has generated more than 10,800 jobs in the city, from 98 investment projects.

IT development in Medellín

Medellin is the only Colombian city recognized as a Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation (C.T.I. District), it is also home to the first Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4RI) in Latin America and has the Ruta N Innovation and Business Center, which leads the economic transformation of the territory towards knowledge-based businesses. The city also has the most ambitious public policy for Science, Technology and Innovation in Colombia, investing 2.45% of its GDP in STI activities.

According to the Agency for Cooperation and Investment of Medellin – ACI Medellin and Technology by PageGroup, the software and IT services sector represents 6% of the total amount of foreign investment and has generated more than 10,800 jobs in Medellin.

According to the ACI Medellín and Technology by PageGroup study, the type of activities and operations that IT services companies develop in the city are mainly based on: software development and provision of associated services (86%), data processing (7%), Fintech (4%) and Edtech (3%). In addition, the main countries investing in these services are the United States (49%) and to a lesser extent Spain, Canada, Mexico, Uruguay and the United Kingdom.

Medellin has the most ambitious public policy for Science, Technology and Innovation in the country, investing 2.45% of its GDP in STI activities.

In this sense, the investment projects that are installed in Medellin are mainly for nearshoring, or outsourcing, providing support to the companies’ current clients, as well as the establishment of strategic alliances with local companies or the establishment of their own operations for the development of new solutions in the Latin American market. Consequently, the training of human talent in hybrid skills and work methodologies such as agile are essential for the development of this sector.

 

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Parques del Río Norte receive international support for implementation from C40 network

The Parques del Río Norte project, one of the most important projects within the Medellín Futuro Development Plan, will receive international cooperation for its execution. The C40 Cities (Climate Leadership Group) and the GIZ (German Society for International Cooperation) have set their eyes on this project because they consider it an urban reference that will not only improve people’s quality of life, but will also contribute to the sustainability and conservation of the environment.

Parques del Río Norte will change the face of the communities of Popular and Santa Cruz and will benefit more than 390,000 people.

The international alliance was sealed with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Mayor Daniel Quintero Calle and representatives of C40 and GIZ. The agreement will allow for technical support for the entire project and support Medellín in obtaining economic resources for its financing.

“Our Development Plan bets on a different vision and Medellín, the one of the future, which is an exercise of resistance to the processes that led us to become the city of no future. This space will not only create 300,000 square meters of green spaces, it will be a meeting place to finally put an end to all wars, to recognize ourselves again as brothers and to concentrate all of us united hand in hand in moving Medellín forward,” said Mayor Daniel Quintero Calle.

The C40 Cities (Climate Leadership Group) and the GIZ (German Society for International Cooperation) have their eyes on the project for its contribution to environmental conservation. The international alliance was sealed with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the District of Medellín, C40 and GIZ.

This agreement is possible thanks to the Cities Financing Facility (CFF), a program funded by the governments of Germany, the United Kingdom and France, and jointly implemented by C40 and GIZ. In April 2021, the call was opened to support cities in Africa, Asia and Latin America to mobilize funding for climate change mitigation and adaptation projects. As well as Medellin, Rio de Janeiro and Salvador (Brazil), Lima (Peru) and Bogota were other beneficiary cities.

“Medellín is a clear example of how cities are leading at the regional level an inclusive and innovative response to the climate emergency and the other crises we have had to live through during these years such as the Covid-19 pandemic. This is evidenced by the city’s key role as a regional representative in the working group of mayors for a green and just recovery,” said Cristina Argudo, interim deputy regional director for Latin America at C40.

This collaboration will have some important working points such as support in the technical development and technological evaluation of the project; the creation of business models and financing structures; and support for accessing international resources. In addition, there will be an exchange of lessons learned with other cities in the world regarding the challenges in terms of infrastructure to face climate change.

Currently, for the execution of Parques del Río Norte, the District is making progress in the land management (43%) and environmental management (14%) required for the first phase of the project, which will allow the construction of 70,000 square meters of public space. The physical work is expected to begin in the first days of 2023 and will include the adaptation of green areas, the construction of bike paths, the installation of urban planning and the construction of pedestrian walkways. An investment of more than $62.7 billion is planned for this first stage.

“Parques del Río Norte will be a work that will bring opportunities, quality of life and development to those who live in that area. We are finalizing design details to put out to contract the first polygon of this first stage, which will be approximately 26,000 square meters. Receiving the trust of such important and qualified international actors shows us that we are doing things right and that we are on the right path to make Medellín an Eco-city”, added the Secretary of Physical Infrastructure, Natalia Urrego Arias.

Parques del Río Norte will benefit more than 390,000 people and will transform communes 1 (Popular) and 2 (Santa Cruz), which make up one of the most densely populated sectors in Latin America. There, the current rate of public space per inhabitant is 1.5 square meters, far from the 15 square meters recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).

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Medellin plans to build 5 more metrocables

After a meeting between the Mayor of Medellín, Daniel Quintero, and the Minister of Transportation, Guillermo Reyes González, the District Administration will sign an agreement with the National Government for resources ranging between $3.5 and 4 billion, for the construction of five metrocables that the city will have and that will benefit, including inhabitants of the municipalities of Itagüí and La Estrella.

“That means more resources for the city. With the Metropolitan Area we have just reached an agreement, which we are about to materialize, for $37,000 million for the designs. Metrocables there will be in La Estrella and Itagüí, two in the northeast, one for the inhabitants of Robledo. In Poblado we will have a kind of mini-train that will go up from Poblado station through Loma de Los Parra to Aguas Vivas in Las Palmas. This will be one of the biggest bets in mobility in the city”, said the mayor during the Government Council.

The mayor also highlighted that during the meeting, the River Train was discussed, where the Nation will provide 70% of the resources, which will allow more mobility options for the people of Antioquia.

Likewise, the possibility of building a second runway at the José María Córdova Airport in Rionegro was discussed, strategies were structured so that the Olaya Herrera Airport becomes a park of more than one million square meters, and an airport is built in San Pedro de Los Milagros and another one in Santa Fé de Antioquia.

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ACI Medellín, 20 years connecting our region with the world

The president of the Medellin Council, Lucas Cañas, presented a distinction in a Style Note to the Agency for Cooperation and Investment of Medellin and the Metropolitan Area as a token of appreciation for an entity that plays a leading role in the development of the entire territory through investment and cooperation with the world.

“Today, being present in the heart of democracy, we receive a tribute with immense joy and also with great responsibility. This city is very much loved and this moves us in our work; we are aware that in every day of work we are contributing so that many people of the city can improve their quality of life through international cooperation and investment, which is the slogan that marks our work route”, emphasized Jonathan Ballesteros, director of relations of ACI Medellin, during his speech at the Council.

In these 20 years of ACI Medellin’s history, has reported 3.4 billion dollars in investment and more than 117 million dollars in international cooperation, estimating the creation of some 25 thousand jobs thanks to all this.

During the award ceremony, the president of the Council, Lucas Cañas, emphasized in his speech to city executives and ACI Medellin officials present at the event, “you are the rudder and compass of Medellin’s internationalization strategy; therefore, as president of the Council, I recognize the value of ACI Medellin for the city, you are crucial for the improvement of the lives of citizens”.

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With more than 3.4 billion dollars in foreign investment and more than 25,000 jobs created by attracted companies, ACI Medellín celebrates 20 years of international cooperation history

With more than 3.4 billion dollars in investment and more than 25 thousand jobs created by 200 foreign companies, the International Cooperation Agency of Medellin celebrates 20 years of history attracting global markets and investment companies to the city. During these two decades, companies such as WeWork, MercadoLibre, Pepsico, Renault, Holcim, Casino, Globant, Accenture, Concentrix and Endava have decided to bet on the growth of their operations in the city.

More than 200 international companies have arrived in the city, including Decathlon, Marriot, Dollarcity and Farmatodo. The jobs were generated by companies from different countries around the world that have relied on Medellín to establish their operations.

For Jonathan Ballesteros, director of relations for ACI Medellín, “a living example of what the agency has done in its history was experienced less than a year ago at the event ‘Medellín and its International Allies’, in which we brought together, in person, more than 300 high-level guests, including ambassadors, mayors, representatives of multilateral and cooperation organizations, and businessmen from around the world, to learn about projects of the Medellín Development Plan. In addition, so far this year we have attended 370 international delegates, generating more than 600 thousand dollars in economic benefits for the city, in addition to possible approaches for cooperation and investment”.

In 20 years, ACI Medellin has visited more than 50 cities around the world with the event “Why Medellin?”, which has invited more than 800 entrepreneurs to come and meet the city and install their investment projects in the Software Valley. China, South Korea, France, United States, Argentina, Brazil, Turkey, Israel and Spain are some of the territories visited in person with the mission of bringing the city closer to the rest of the world.

Currently, foreign investment can be seen in the streets of Medellín with stores such as Dollarcity, which has 15 branches; Farmatodo, which in less than two years has added six stores, and Decathlon with three; in addition to hotels such as Marriot, Ibis, Estelar and Accor, among others.

The Ayacucho Tramway and the CITRA (Integrated Transportation Center) have been some of the projects that have generated the greatest impact, thanks to international cooperation.

As a collaboration strategy with world governments and multilateral organizations, the agency has promoted Medellin’s leadership in city networks such as C40 Cities for Life, Metropolis and AL-las; at the same time it has applied for and won awards such as the Lee Kuan Yew, better known as the “Nobel of cities”, the Bloomberg Philanthropies Award, the UCLG Culture 21 International Award and 30 others.

Medellin’s resilience and transformation are so well positioned in the world that many local governments in Latin America and even Africa have visited the city to learn from its good practices. Through cooperation actions with cities and developing countries, more than 50 knowledge transfers have been carried out with cities in other places, including Burma, in assistance to victims of the armed conflict, and Recife (Brazil) in entrepreneurship, urbanism and innovation. In addition, more than 1,000 international journalists interested in making Medellín’s transformation process visible have been received.

Converting the capital of Antioquia into a Software Valley and an Eco-city will continue to be the goal of ACI Medellin in the coming years, in its aim to strengthen and open new paths with governments and companies around the world that want to create ties with the city as a key player in global changes from the local level.

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Seven social organizations in Medellín will strengthen their abilities to access international cooperation resources.

In order to create alliances with the world to achieve sustainable development and build a better place for the people of Medellin, the ACI Medellin began accompanying seven civil social organizations in the city: the Christian Youth Association ACJ-YMCA Medellin, the Juan Felipe Gomez Escobar Foundation, the SACIAR Foundation – Food Bank, the Salva Terra Foundation, the Antioquia Presente Corporation, the Seed of Hope Corporation, and the Dreams and Footprints of Tomorrow Corporation, to strengthen their capacities in international cooperation management.

About 20 social organizations of the civil society of the city applied for the call, seven of which were selected to be guided and accompanied by the ACI Medellín. Among the selection criteria, the impact, experience in international cooperation and the public-private articulation of the organizations were evaluated.

The organizations were selected based on their track record in international cooperation processes through a call for proposals that evaluated their impact, experience in international cooperation and public-private articulation with other organizations.

David Villegas García, executive director of the Salva Terra Foundation, said that through this process they seek to “strengthen relations through cooperation and investment in rural development and food security for the municipality of Medellín and the department of Antioquia”.

The pilot project, which will run through the second half of 2022, includes activities such as the identification and socialization of international cooperation calls and advice on the formulation and application process, a cycle of training in cooperation that will work on topics such as scenarios for seeking opportunities, information management and contexts for applications, cooperation language, project formulation and budgetary considerations, successful experiences, among others.

Organizations not selected in this cycle of accompaniment will be able to be trained in the free virtual course “Introduction to International Cooperation for the non-profit sector”.

“In the ACI Medellin, we are proud to begin the work of accompanying social organizations, with which we hope not only to increase the flow of cooperation resources entering the territory, but also to strengthen the social ecosystem of the city,” said Juan Manuel Muñoz, Project Management director of the Agency.

The ACI Medellin invites social organizations not selected in this process to strengthen their capacities in cooperation through the free virtual course “Introduction to International Cooperation for the non-profit sector” with an intensity of 16 hours that will be open from August 15 to October 30, 2022. More information at https://virtual.acimedellin.org/

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Denmark announces cooperation with Medellín

With the purpose of exploring possibilities of cooperation with Medellin, we received the visit of the Danish Embassy in Colombia, led by its ambassador Erik Høeg, and accompanied by the city counselor Mikkel Hall. After the visit they announced that the city-city cooperation program of the Mayor of Copenhagen has decided to start a new cooperation in Latin America, and Medellin is one of the priority cities.

We organized a full work agenda with the Danish delegation, which included a meeting with the general manager of EPM, Jorge Andrés Carrillo Cardoso; the vice president (e) of Strategy and Planning, Luisa María Pérez Fernández; the director of the EPM Foundation, Vivian Puerta, and a group of officials of the Company. At the meeting, the general manager of EPM highlighted the importance of cooperation for the achievement of EPM’s strategy and acknowledged the experience of the Danish country in clean energy issues and in the implementation of circular economy programs, which can contribute to the fulfillment of the company’s goals.

“The first phase is to grow closer, to understand where we can do things, where the city has needs, while also coming to learn a lot from Medellín. We recognize EPM as an engine for the transformation of the city and that is why we are here to know where we can develop concrete projects or initiatives with city impact.” said the Danish Ambassador.

The director of the EPM Foundation, Vivian Puerta, highlighted Denmark’s Embassy ‘s cooperation in the strategy “My Sustainable Future”, an initiative aimed at children between 7 and 14 years old that is being organized jointly by this embassy, the District of Medellin, the ACI Medellín and the EPM Foundation and that will be presented next September.

The delegation lived the silletero experience

Since we were in the midst the city’s Feria de las Flores, we took advantage of the opportunity to tour the silletero farms with Ambassador Erik Høeg in the township of Santa Elena. The ambassador lived an experience full of tradition, flowers, plays and stories.

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Medellín goes from being a Municipality to a Special STi (Science, Technology and Innovation) District

As of 2021, Medellin became a Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation, the first city in Colombia to recieve this designation.

In order to better understand this fact, we would like to answer some frequently asked questions.:

What does it mean to be a district as a special entity?

  • That we are a territorial entity with administrative autonomy, which can be governed by its own authorities and enjoys special powers, different from those contemplated for other territorial entities such as municipalities and departments.
  • This means that we have particular characteristics of the territory that merit a special administration regime.
  • Medellín joins 11 other special districts in Colombia, such as Barranquilla, which is an industrial and port district, Santa Marta, which is a tourism, cultural and historical district, as well as Cartagena, Buenaventura, Barrancabermeja, among others.

What are the benefits of being a special district?

The declaration of Medellin as a District is currently in the regulation process within the Republic’s Congress and it is not yet clear how the tax issues will be resolved, i.e., meaning Medellín might assum new taxes such as taxes on alcoholic beverages and road traffic, normally designated to governorships. This will not be known until 2023, when it will be properly regulated.

What benefits does the District currently offer in terms of STi, despite the fact that it has not yet been fully regulated?

Currently, there are no new benefits directly derived from declaring the city as a STI District, although it is worth mentioning that some important benefits for companies that exist since before this designation are:

  • 100% exemption in 2022 and 50% in 2023 in the industry and commerce payment for companies formalized through the following programs: Cedezos, Software Valley Centers, Capital Semilla, Creative Economy, Technology Based Entrepreneurship, Spin off.
  • 50% tax exemption for 2022 and 2023 for companies incorporated as of 2021 and that are related to information and communication technologies – ICT.
  • 100% exemption of the property tax in 2022 and 80% in 2023 for companies incorporated as of 2021 and located in the innovation and creative economic districts of the city.
  • 100% exemption of the property tax in 2022 and 50% in 2023 for companies located in permanent multi-user or special free zone, under the jurisdiction of the Municipality from the entry into force of the agreement.

What information is of interest and can be published?

That Medellín is now a STi District, which implies that we will no longer be mentioned as “the Municipality” but as “the District”, so all communications and other informational pieces must include this denomination. Likewise, all future public policies and planning instruments will fall within the STi thematic starting for the moment of said designation.

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We presented the advantages of investing in Medellin and the Metropolitan Area to Brazilian businesspeople

In partnership with the Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley and the Brazilian Consulate in Medellín, we organized a virtual event to present to Brazilian investors the advantages of the city and the metropolitan area for foreign investment before more than 40 attendees from 15 organizations.

Pablo Maturana, deputy director of cooperation of the Metropolitan Area presented the reasons and opportunities why investing in this region becomes a winning bet. The Metropolitan Area in its proposal for a sustainable future 2020-2023 for the region, aims to move towards a smart metropolis, in which comprehensive actions for sustainable development use innovation and the use of ICT as tools to increase the quality of life of the metropolitan inhabitants, under the principle of territorial solidarity. This proposal contemplates 27 programs and an investment of USD $ 431 million.

In summary, the following topics were discussed:

What does the territory offer for investment?

Basically 5 reasons: high economic performance and strong business fabric, excellent climate for doing business, a region connected to the world, abundant talent, an attractive place to live.

What differentiates our territory?

Sustainable mobility, environmental quality, biodiversity, Early Warning System – SIATA, strategic urban planning projects and security and coexistence.

We’ve shared the presentation [ here ]

 

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The international community supports Medellín’s peace building efforts

Medellín received full support this week in its interest to construct memory, defend human rights and help victims in their quest to know the truth about violence in Comuna 13 (the city’s 13th Disctrict).

For the ACI Medellin, reconciliation, dialogue and peace processes are a priority when it comes to relating with the world to gather good practices and the best allies to promote these initiatives. This is the reason why this week, we visited La Escombrera, a sector in the west part of the city, with international organizations such as the United Nations Development Program – UNDP; Mission to Support the Peace Process in Colombia – MAPP OAS; Spanish Agency for International Cooperation – AECID and the Special Jurisdiction for Peace – JEP. Embassies from the Canadian, German, United Kingdom and Sweden governments were also present.

During the visit, the Secretary of Non-Violence of Medellín explained to the cooperants the road that many families have had to travel in search of justice and reparation.

This space allowed the creation of strategic relationships that give way to international cooperation as a tool that opens opportunities for fact clarification. Likewise, with this tour, the need to have historical memory within our territory is made visible by reconstructing stories.

Context

“La Escombrera” is a site in the Comuna 13 of Medellin, which has been a site of constant reports by relatives of the disappeared and social organizations as a space of clandestine burials of people who had been detained, tortured, executed, and buried in the place, using this debris disposal site for the concealment of the bodies. The relatives of the disappeared have appropriated the site as a place of memory, carrying out many of their symbolic acts to demand truth, justice, and reparation, as well as representing a hope to find the remains of their loved ones. The space of La Escombrera will allow us to think about the relationships between conflict, violence, and the logic of heritage.

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Medellin welcomed international journalists arriving at Colombiamoda 2022 with a drone show at the Citadel for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4TA)

Nearly 40 international fashion and trend journalists who came to the city on the occasion of Colombiamoda 2022 were able to take a close look at our city and witness the transformation into a Software Valley.

On Monday, August 25, prior to the start of the largest fashion fair in Colombia and one of the most recognized in the region, journalists came to Comuna 13 to visit the C4TA or Citadel for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Transformation of Learning. There they were received by Sapiencia, the Secretariat of Economic Development and Digital Innovation and the ACI Medellin, to show them one of the largest developments in the city.

While they visited the facilities of this modern center, they were explained the modalities of the courses that are being taught and the plans for medium and long term growth. Thanks to the Epica program of the Mayor’s Office and Avon, they were able to have a fair with entrepreneurs in the fashion sector and also have a cultural immersion in the Comuna 13 with the presentation of an urban dance show with Chota and eat empanadas, obleas, solteritas and the renowned mango biche and lemon popsicles.

To close the tour, Angel Simon Arango, a 23 year old young man from Comuna 13, and entrepreneur of a drone company, performed a drone show where he brought a banner with this year’s Colombiamoda slogan through the air, and where a jacket from the brand Reset Denim also arrived hanging from a drone and was received by its designer Hernan Alvarado.

The journalists left the C4TA amazed with everything they saw and especially with the drone show and the life story of Angel Simon, who since he was a child dreamed of becoming an aeronautical technician and thanks to the programs offered by the municipality was able to study and start his own company.

The following images show more details of this tour.

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Foreign investment dignifies the lives of the elderly in Medellín

Mrs. Rocío Molina (76 years old), Mrs. Hercilia Gallego (72 years old) and Mrs. Mercelena Montoya (85 years old) found in Acalis the best option to improve their quality of life.

“Since I came here, my life has changed, I’ve been here for almost a year and I’m happy,” says Mrs. Rocío when she talks about how this center for the elderly improved her life.

Mrs. Rocio was widowed four years ago, despite her two children, she felt sad, depressed and lived very lonely. She decided to put her house up for sale and look for a home for the elderly. After a long searching, she found her corner of the world in Acalis, where she made new friends, dances, dresses up and says: “I am at home, here I do what I want, we have a great time because we have a group of six friends, so we have a great time”.

Acalis is a European-based company that has its main facilities in Santiago de Chile and is dedicated to the integral care of the elderly. It is a residential complex expressly designed and equipped for this population group, which is provided with specialized care services that include 24/7 nursing accompaniment, specialized nutrition, physical therapy and cognitive therapy.

In 2019, thanks to the market size of the region (600,000 potential clients in Antioquia), the supply of health services for this segment, the climate, the friendliness and service vocation of the people and the quality of life, they decided to settle in Medellín with an initial operation of 122 rooms in El Poblado neighborhood and an investment of USD 21 million.

habitaciones modelo Acalis
Rooms at Acalis

The company currently generates 40 direct jobs, which they expect to increase to 100 with full occupancy. Precisely another reason why they chose to come to Medellín is the human talent with a high level in health services and medium-high level in hotel services. Their arrival in Colombia was supported by Procolombia and ACI Medellín, in terms of regional sector information and local relations, which facilitated their settlement in the city.

 

“I was tired of being a housewife. I had been living very well for 60 years, but the responsibilities of home exhausted me, I came to Acalis, where frankly they contemplate me, I eat very well, my children visit me, this is a delightful rest for me.”

Mrs. Mercelena Montoya (85 years old)

In this way, we see how foreign investment can change the lives of citizens, in this case of the elderly, in others it is the possibility of generating quality employment and more opportunities for all.

 

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Medellin advances in investment, cooperation and tourism with the opening of new air routes

Medellín goza de una creciente reputación internacional como destino ideal para turismo e inversión extranjera; muestra de ello es el crecimiento constante de la llegada de nuevas aerolíneas y apertura de nuevas rutas aéreas en los aeropuertos de Medellín y Rionegro.

A mayo de 2022 tenemos 17 aerolíneas que conectan a nuestra región con el mundo, entre ellas se destacan, Viva, Latam, Avianca, Ultra, Wingo, Easy Fly, Sarpa, Jet Blue, Spirit, EZ Air, Air Europa, Aeroméxico, Viva Aerobus, American y Jet Smart, entre otras.

Estas aerolíneas cubren semanalmente 779 viajes nacionales, 198 internacionales desde Rionegro; y desde Medellín 296 viajes nacionales. Las nuevas rutas aéreas que se han abierto en los últimos dos años son Aruba por Sarpa y Wingo, Cancún con 3 aerolíneas y 17 viajes semanales, Curazao con 5 viajes y 3 aerolíneas, México con 22 viajes, Punta Cana 10 viajes, Santiago de Chile y Santo Domingo con 2, San José de Costa Rica con 3 y La Habana con un viaje. Estas nuevas rutas se suman a las ya existentes con Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando, Lima, Madrid, New York y Panamá.

Para Jonathan Ballesteros, director de relaciones locales e internacionales de la ACI Medellín, “nuestra región viene dando unos pasos gigantes para conectarnos con el mundo y así facilitar el posicionamiento y la llegada de inversión y turismo a la ciudad. Este hecho nos ha llevado también a ser reconocidos mundialmente como una de las ciudades preferidas por viajeros de todo el mundo tal como sucedió con el prestigioso Rankin Time Out 2022 de Reino Unido, donde quedamos en la tercera posición como la ciudad preferida del mundo.”

Recientemente, Viva abrió las rutas Medellín- Buenos Aires y Medellín- Sao Paulo; así mismo, Easy Fly abrió la ruta Paipa- Medellín con 3 viajes semanales y Wingo abrió la ruta Medellín- La Habana, lo cual se convierte en un hito para la ciudad siendo la primera vez que nos conectamos con dichas ciudades de América y con el departamento de Boyacá. Cada anuncio sirve para estrechar lazos culturales entre pueblos y ciudades hermanas donde se favorece el intercambio de inversión, turismo, buenas prácticas y por supuesto desarrollo económico para las regiones.

Esta conectividad aérea ha permitido que entre 2020 y lo que llevamos 2022 se haya reportado USD $ 653 millones en más de 50 empresas que decidieron invertir o reinvertir en nuestra ciudad gracias a factores claves que nos diferencian de otras como son: el talento humano, la cultura, el desarrollo urbano, y la conectividad aérea que facilita la cercanía con Norte América, Europa y Sur América.

Como parte de la apertura de la nueva ruta a Buenos Aires, dos silleteros de Santa Elena, visitaron dicha ciudad para promocionar la Feria de las Flores que se realizará del 5 al 15 de agosto. Esta misión que involucró a la Secretaría de Cultura y Desarrollo Económico, al Bureau Medellín y al Despacho de la Gestora Social buscará incrementar la llegada de nuevos turistas e inversionistas argentinos que en los últimos 5 años han sido 32.000 los que han llegado a la capital antioqueña.

La apertura de todas estas nuevas rutas, han favorecido el aumento del ingreso de turistas en lo que llevamos este año; de acuerdo con reportes del Observatorio Turístico de Medellín, entre enero y mayo de 2022 se registraron 472.826 viajeros que pasaron por el Punto de Control Migratorio del Aeropuerto José María Córdova, lo que representa un 38 % de crecimiento, comparado con el mismo periodo de 2019.

De esta manera, la conectividad aérea se convierte en un factor fundamental para la dinamización de la economía en nuestra región, favoreciendo procesos de inversión y cooperación que se llevan adelante con países de todo el mundo y que gracias a una mayor cercanía, ahora se puede viajar de forma más ágil y económica.

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Medellin will be the business operations center of the second largest outsourcing company in the world

It’s Concentrix, a company that will generate around 100 jobs per month until the end of 2022 and more than 1,500 additional vacancies in 2023. This North American company, with a workforce of 290,000 people in 40 countries, will hire 120 people from Medellín to start operations.

With the arrival of Concentrix, Medellín reaffirms itself as an attractive city for investors. This North American BPO (Business Process Outsourcing), created in 1983 and headquartered in California, is expected to generate 600 jobs in the capital of Antioquia this year and an additional 1,500 in 2023.

Twenty service outsourcing companies have set up in the city with an investment of US$85 million and have generated close to 4,000 direct jobs.

The figures add to those of other service outsourcing companies such as One Link, Teleperformance, UPS and Grupo Konecta, which generate quality employment.

“In Medellín we are very happy with the arrival of Concentrix, one of the largest companies in the world in the BPO sector. This North American capital company will generate 600 new jobs this year, and they have a projection for 2023 of 1,500 new jobs. This is a great opportunity for hundreds of young people in Medellin and is the confidence that has been generated in recent years in a city where flourishing is possible.”, said Jonathan Ballesteros, director of Local and International Relations of The ACI Medellín.

To apply for any of the company’s vacancies, applicants must have an advanced level of English and live in Medellin or the metropolitan area. More information is available at the following link [ here ]

“From Ruta N we are very happy to announce the arrival of Concentrix to the city, which together with our attraction team continues to show the world all the possibilities that large companies have to grow in Medellin with talent, with investment and with our whole network of institutions in this ecosystem of science, technology and innovation. We will continue to open programs so that Medellin’s talent is linked to all these global companies to generate value.” said Ruta N’s operations director, Rubén Villegas.

The company will set up operations in Ciudad del Rio and will work with hundreds of customers around the world.

“We chose Medellin because it’s the innovation center of Colombia, in addition to its talent and willingness to provide an excellent customer service experience; we came to contribute to the socioeconomic growth of this city by joining the technological and digital development that characterizes the capital of Antioquia” said Concentrix’s country manager in Colombia, Clara María Bernal.

This local opening of operations is the result of a positive balance during the first quarter of the year, as it achieved revenues of US$1,536 million, or 13% more than in the same period of 2021.

The ACI Medellin is advancing strategies to promote the capital of Antioquia to potential investors around the world. An example of this is Why Medellín, which between 2020 and 2022 has generated 12 virtual and face-to-face events with businessmen from Chile, France, Spain, the United States and Mexico, among others.

In addition, a project bank was launched this year to connect investors from all over the world with local companies that need foreign resources to develop high impact proposals, both in the public and private sectors. Information about this bank and the requirements to apply for it can be found [ here ]

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13 child football players from Medellin will travel to Korea to an International Tournament

Thanks to a city application made by INDER Medellín with the Agency for Cooperation and Investment of Medellin and the Metropolitan Area – ACI Medellín, 13 athletes from the capital of Antioquia will travel to South Korea to represent the country in the Son Heung Min International Youth Football Tournament. The event receives its name in honor of the prestigious Tottenham Hotspur player from England who supports the event through his football academy.

The event, which will take place in Chuncheon, South Korea, is sponsored by the prestigious Tottenham footballer, Son Heung Min

“In Medellín we continue betting on sports as tools for social transformation. We’re letting the city know that 13 children are going to South Korea to fulfill a dream. This delegation shows Medellín that we can transform the realities of the young people in our Comunas (districts), who are often exposed to other realities, but today, we can say that we have the proper conditions to offer them a better future”, said the director of INDER Medellín, Cristian Sánchez.

The kids were selected after several months of training and scouting work with more than 40 players, among users of INDER Medellín, sports clubs in the city and the Antioquia discipline league. They are all children from different districts of the city, Bello and Itagüí, and the coaching staff is headed by Diego Toro, a former professional football player.

The athletes’ selection process included psychotechnical tests and a medical examination to identify the weight, height and muscle mass profile, as well as their strength, speed and coordination capabilities.

“As a coach, you’ll always want to get to know new cultures, a different kind of football, so for me it’s a nice experience, just like for the boys. For many of them, this will be the first time they get on a plane, and just that is part of our innovation. We have to go to represent our city and our country in the best way possible”, said the technical director, Diego Toro.

Teams from six countries were invited to the event. The team from Medellín is the only representative of Colombia. There, they will meet athletes from South Korea, China, Mongolia, Russia, and Vietnam.

“For me, this trip represents the dedication, effort and attitude that I have always put into football. It represents the love of my parents knowing that football is my passion, taking me to practice, taking me to different clubs and playing in championships”, commented Samuel Geovo Murillo, one of the team players

The tournament is an 8-a-side football tournament for under-12 athletes and will take place from June 8th to June 12th at the Son Heung Min Sports Park in Chuncheon, South Korea. The purpose of the friendly category contest is to generate bonds of friendship between the participating teams.

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Comisión de la Policía Militar de São Paulo

Commission of the military police of São Paulo visited Medellín to lear about the achievement of the articulated strategy against crime

As an enriching experience for strategy exchange and an opportunity to recognize the positive changes in Medellin, the members of a commission from Military House of the Governor’s Office of State of São Paulo described the visit to the city, that during this week toured the facilities of the Secretariat of Security and Coexistence on the occasion of a binational exchange ordered from the Brazilian government.

The delegation acknowledged advances in technology, prevention and response of the Integrated Emergency and Security System.

It is of great importance that the efforts made in Medellín in terms of infrastructure, intelligence and coordination for security are internationally recognized. It’s often that people abroad believe that the city is still as it was in the 90’s and when they look closely at what we’ve achieved, they are surprised and wish to learn” said the Secretary of Security and Coexistence, José Gerardo Acevedo Ossa. 

The Secretariat of Security and Coexistence and the ACI Medellín served as hosts of the commission, which fulfills the visit ordered by the Governor of the State of São Paulo. This is one of the many international visits that we attend constantly to share knowledge and formalize partnerships.

Comisión de la Policía Militar de São Paulo

The delegation from the State of Sao Paulo’s Military Police’s Command Plan consisted of Lieutenant Colonel Anísio Araújo Dos Santos (director of the Administrative Department), Captain Rodrigo Fiorentini (director of the Humanitarian Logistics Center), Ricardo Cledson Leito Dos Passos (Planning Division), Hugo Valentín Kroll Miranda (Captain of the Military Police of Sao Paulo) and Rafael de Vitro Salvador (Heritage Centre).

“Medellin is a very nice and orderly city, the Secretariat of Security is very technologically advanced, like what we have in Sao Paulo. We were really impressed. We came here to learn about transformation and integration”, said Captain Miranda.

Among the data presented to the neighboring country’s commission, we highlight the progressive reduction of homicides in Medellin in recent years, today by -4% compared to the previous year, which makes it the most peaceful of the last four decades, and the technological capacity that includes 2,890 cameras integrated into SIESM and the Carbyne and ICAD subsystems, which operate similarly in the city of São Paulo.

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A Tour for Peace. Memoria Sonora para la Paz “Resistir hasta el final” (Resistance until the end)

“Resistir hasta el final” (resistance until the end) is the name of the song written by Eunice Vergara brave, strong and fighting woman, who, despite having lived in the midst of the armed conflict in Cauca, continues to believe in and bet on building peace. Because of this, her song has become the theme song of the Memoria Sonora para La Paz (Sound Memory for Peace) Tour.

I feel very deeply. Seeing how things can truly be accomplished when we put in our best efforts. What I find most important is that these songs will reach the hearts of many people and will travel the whole country,” said Eunice Vergara.

With a suitcase full of dreams and a recording team, we arrived at the north of the Cauca department, to record songs, poems, testimonies, and reflections from many artists and organizations. This material became a document of resistance and dignity, which contributes to building peace and harmony, and confirms once again that music is a tool for social change.

The tour allowed artists from the municipalities of Suárez and Buenos Aires, Cauca, to come together for the musical, artistic and cultural creation, and performances of their communities. We collected demonstrations, expressions, feelings and practices of children, teenagers, women, and men who peacefully confront the violence that affects the territory. This process is the possibility of continuing to consolidate a legacy for the country in terms of art and culture for peace.

“At Fundación PLAN we are convinced of the power of art and culture in peace building, not just to stop the war, but to remind society the importance of not repeating our violence; it is also a mechanism that tells our country’s history. Art is the greatest form of resistance, and the most important form of resistance in a conflict such as what has been lived in Colombia, every bullet fired in our country had a song, a poem, or a work of art in parallel” said Gustavo Quintero, Vice-President of Fundación PLAN.

For this process we’re working with César López, ambassador of Fundación PLAN, a musician from Bogota and an artist committed to building peace. “Hope will always be alive. I invite you to follow us on this path and together we can heal all wounds and build a better country”, concludes César López.

This May 11 at 3:00 pm we will start the Memoria Sonora Tour in the Casa de la Memoria Museum located at Cl. 51 # 36 – 66, where there will also be an exchange of experiences with groups from Comuna 13, will be an afternoon full of music and great stories of peace building from art and culture.

This process is promoted from EmpoderArte por la Paz, a project implemented by Fundación PLAN in partnership with National Forum for Colombia-South West Chapter and Otra Escuela Corporation, financed by the Swedish Agency for International Cooperation for Development, SAICD.

 

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20 years of the ACI Medellín deserve the recognition given by the French Chamber of Commerce

With pride, the ACI Medellín received a special recognition from CCI France Colombia and its general director, Pedro Valero, for its 20 years of experience. He highlighted that the work between the two entities and especially between Medellín and France has been essential in raising cooperation and investment resources that allow the growth and development of our territory.

This is an honorable recognition for so many citizens who have benefited directly and indirectly from the projects in which international cooperation and investment have been present thanks to the Agency’s management.

With approximately USD 500 million in investment and USD 2.5 million in cooperation, France has one of the best relationships with Medellín. Companies such as Renault Sofasa, Grupo Éxito, Decathlon and Poma are some of the most outstanding companies that have arrived in the territory.

French companies in Colombia invoice more than 20 billion euros per year and generate more than 120 thousand direct jobs.

In the 20 years of its history, the entity has managed 21 foreign direct investment projects with France that represent an investment amount of 496.17 million dollars, of which 51.40% are focused on investments in the manufacturing sector and 41.98% in the commerce sector.

Likewise, the city has received more than USD 2.5 million in cooperation, for projects focused on sustainable mobility, environment and biodiversity, urban planning and culture. One of the works that stands out the most in the city thanks to cooperation resources was the Ayacucho Tramway. The French Development Agency (AFD) managed to finance a large part of this project.

For Jonathan Ballesteros, director of Local and International Relations of the ACI Medellín, “the relationship with France and specifically with the French Chamber of Commerce is a strategic issue for the entire city, because, thanks to the companies and resources achieved through cooperation, we’ve managed to generate jobs for thousands of people and carry out projects that have led the way towards our dream of a Medellín of the Future.”

Pedro Valero, general director of CCI France also stated: “It’s essential for our entity to have allies in supporting the attraction of investment to the country and to Medellín; For this reason, the ACI Medellin is a strategic actor in the development of relations between France and the city due to its knowledge, experience and access to the key actors in Medellín”.

Currently, French companies are interested in participating in large projects in the city and region, such as Puerto Antioquia and the 80th Avenue Metro Line, considering the impeccable track record that companies such as Poma, GreenYellow and Alstom have delivered for projects such as the tramway, Metro cables and generation of renewable energy.

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Medellin’s children are educated with the best technology and innovation

In Medellín, the Software Valley’s strategy also reaches the youngest parts of society. Nearly 370 children at the Lusitania Buen Comienzo kindergarten, located in the San Cristóbal district of the city’s rural zone, children receive education with high standards of innovation that facilitates their learning.

“This kindergarten is just as good, if not better than any other kindergarten,” says Susana Zapata, mother of María José Yepes, a child who benefits from this modality, achieved thanks to international cooperation with the affiliate of the U.S. foundation United Way in Colombia.

Susana Zapata, mother of María José Yepes, one of the 370 children served by the Buen Comienzo Lusitania Kindergarten.

This educational scenario, which is part of the comprehensive offer for early childhood of the Mayor’s Office of Medellin through the Special Administrative Unit Buen Comienzo, not only has an infrastructure that is physically and aesthetically created to promote learning environments for children, but also contemplates pedagogy and the use of technology as stimulants for the development of 21st century skills, such as critical thinking, problem solving and collaborative work.

The kindergarten, which began operating in 2018 under the operation of Comfama, began a process in 2019 to implement innovative techniques and become a benchmark for good practices in early childhood. Thus, United Way Colombia, a foundation recognized for its work in education in the country, decided to support the kindergarten to turn it into a demonstration center.

What is a demonstration center?

It’s not a made-up concept, it’s an experience that has been worked on in other contexts around the world. Medellin referred to the United Way Center of Excellence in Early Education in Miami, which has already come a long way and adapted these methodologies to the needs of the children benefiting from the kindergarten, as well as those of the educational agents interested in innovating their early childhood care practices with technology.

We’ve been fortunate enough to be accompanied by this wonderful team that has nurtured me a lot in 21st century competencies, in pedagogical experiences and the STEAM Squad. Thankfully, they’ve innovated a lot, they’ve brought a lot of technology, and materials to introduce innovative and quality educational experiences,” says María Janet Arango, an educational agent at the kindergarten.

Facial recognition equipment, electronic circuits, 3D pencils and printers, cameras, voice recorders, among others, are some of the technological elements and pedagogical materials used by the children in the company of the educational agents. “We are equipped with very good material, technological material that the children did not have access to. Other kindergartens don’t have access to these materials. The children analyze and present their ideas, they answer more complex questions, and we can see that their early childhood is being strengthened, they take this knowledge to their homes so the families can also contribute from their points of view.”, said María Janet.

The kindergarten has developed strategies to bring families closer, taking into account co-responsibility as the most important educational agent in the learning process. This is why the kindergarten includes families in different activities and talks, as Cindy Ramirez, educational agent, explains: “We’ve involved the parents so that they know about the work we’ve been doing with the children and that they are also part of this process. Some parents have asked us how we have ensured that the tools are used properly or to tell us that they are proud that the kindergarten includes the use of technological tools. 

Susana Zapata, one of the parents, said “the relationship between families and the kindergarten is good thanks to the communication between them. I had the opportunity to really see what the children learn at school with the demonstration center, and it’s very nice because the children learn that technology is not only used for games but also as a means of learning, very responsibly. It’s inspiring to see how the children are learning here.”.

An expanding model for the city

On the road to becoming a Software Valley, Medellín has developed programs and projects to take advantage of the territory’s potential and diversify the city’s economy in areas associated with the digital economy and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In this journey, the city has understood that to truly achieve a change in mentality, long-term actions are required that permeate the future of society, in this case early childhood.

In this regard, the director of the Special Administrative Unit Buen Comienzo, Hugo Diaz says: “this commitment in the kindergarten is directly linked and related to our purpose of city: Software Valley. This is one of the examples that technological transformation is fundamental in all city scenarios and, therefore, today our children enjoy this center, and we hope that this commitment can continue to be implemented in other kindergartens in the city because in Medellín Futuro children are also part of the transformation“.

After three years of learning at the Buen Comienzo Lusitania Kindergarten, the Mayor’s Office of Medellín, in partnership with United Way Colombia, plans to expand the model so that children in every district of the city have access to learning based on technology and innovation, thus creating a demonstrative network for early childhood in the city. Although it is an ambitious projection, the formative and inspiring practices that have been achieved in the education of children in Lusitania will serve as a pilot for this expansion to become a reality.

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Medellín ha recibido una cooperación de más de USD 1.2 millones del Ayuntamiento de Barcelona

International cooperation of Barcelona encourages Medellin to be a more inclusive Eco-city

María Nazaret and Jesús Enrique don’t know eachother personally, but they both have something in common: they have been beneffitted by the Barcelona Solidaria program; the former as a homeless person, and the latter as a farmer in the Santa Elena township. They are part of the 13 programs and projects of our city that, since 2020, have recieves about 1,1 million euros from international cooperation.

Jesús Enrique is one of the 25 food producers of the Rutas de Siembra project that seeks to strengthen plot productivity, promote the circular economy and provide associative, community, business and environmental support.

25 farmers from Santa Elena benefit from the cooperation with Barcelona for production, marketing and environmental awareness in food cultivation.

His farm is located near the Arví Metrocable station, a route well known by thousands of tourists that each weekend, come to this township to experience nature at its finest. “Don Jesus’s Farm” as known by most of his neighbors, is filled with color, thanks to all the fruit and vegetables sowed there. Tomatos of all shapes, colors and sizes, lettuce, rosemary kale and cabbage are just some of the products grown by this kind and friendly man.

“The Rutas de Siembra project has helped us with marketing, they’ve provided training sessions on selling, focused on tourism and agriculture, to attend the community’s needs and produce cleanly and organically” says Jesús when reffering to this project that has access to more than 500 million pesos in cooperation resources managed by the NGO “Antioqueños Unidos in Catalonia for Colombia” and executed by Comfenalco.

For Maryori Londoño, Township manager of Medellín, “From the Management we’ve helped with guarantees as well as with the achievement and accompaniment of the producers that this project has helped. Through Rutas de Siembra, it has been possible to train and educate 25 producers located around the Comfenalco Hotel and its surrounding area, and in this process they’ve also been provided with the creation of access routes to commercialize their products in the Arví market and with the hotel also buying their products”.

María Nazaret, is part of another project benefitted from cooperation with Barcelona. She is a homeless woman that, alongside of her dog, Lulo, who she considers her child, lives paralel to the Medellín River in the Minorista sector of the city. Each weekend, they’re visited by workers for the Surgir Corporation, that provide them with toiletry kits, as well as with information and education regarding personal care and wellbeing, to reduce damaged caused by drug consumption; but most improtantly, they provide them with a space where they can be heard.

The Barcelona ABD foundation and the Surgir Corporation, with the support of the MAyor’s office of Medellín, has retaken the Listening Centers project, to strengthen the work focused on harm reduction from drug consumption through practices that can help the homeless to take awareness of their health.

Medellín ha recibido una cooperación de más de USD 1.2 millones del Ayuntamiento de Barcelona

Walking through the are surrounding the river, where hundreds of people affected by homelessness live, is now a task being accompanied by the international community, who consider that a homeless person is an important part of society are therefore, we must work towards their wellbeing, understand the path that led them to where they are and, most importantly, dignify their day to day lives.  

More than 500 homeless inhabitants of Medellin have been accompanied by professionals that are helping them mitigate damage caused by drug consumption. 

For Jonathan Ballesteros, director of Local and International Relations of the ACI Medellin “During the validity of the Medellin Futuro Development Plan, the ACI Medellin in alliance with other secretariats and entities of the local government have managed and supported 13 projects that have a direct impact on social and rural development strategies; these projects add up to 1.1 million euros and it is a clear sign that Medellín is one of the great centers of international cooperation in Latin America”.

Since 2006, Medellín has addep up 1,8 million euros in cooperation with Barcelona, with projects focused on culture, urban planning, infants, youth and women, among others.

This shows clear evidence that the relationship between Medellin and Barcelona is passing through one of its best moments, thanks to alliances for development, managed by the private and local sectors and reaching some of the most vulnerable populations.

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Sana Commerce expands its business further from Medellin to the rest of the world

“This is not our arrival, but a blast off into an exciting new future. The great success over the last years and the rapid growth in business functions serving now multiple regions has proved that we can do a lot more from our main Latin-America Hub here in Medellín.” says Joep Beliën, Country Head of Sana Commerce LATAM, talking about the reasons that have made them choose and continue to grow in Medellin.

Sana Commerce is a Dutch company founded in 1992 that arrived in Medellín in 2018 with the objective to explore the possibility of offering their services to Latin-, and North-America from this city; however, they did not think that their growth would be so fast and that they would find all the institutional support and specialized talent they needed with such success.

For this reason, they have decided to open a new Latin-America headquarters to house the current 42 employees, and the 20+ employees that they are expecting to add to the team this year (that is a 100% growth in 2022 in total). “The talent together with our unique culture at Sana Commerce are our biggest drivers of our success” says Joep Beliën, “This new office is not only a symbol of our success in the past, but also an enabler of our culture in the future. We ask everyone to come in at least 2 days a week, but many come in more. It’s a place to work, it has places to relax, and we really connect with each other. That’s how we overcome even the greatest challenges”.

Jonathan Ballesteros, Director of Local and International Relations of ACI Medellin, says that “Sana Commerce is the example of a company that not only chooses to come to Medellin, but also finds all the support from institutions such as ACI Medellin, Ruta N and ProColombia to continue growing and expanding its operations”.

They currently have complete operational departments in Medellin for Software Development (.NET + ERP developers), Sales, Marketing, Customer Success, Project managers, Consultants, Product Specialists, Customer Support and corporate functions HR, Recruitment and Finance – Serving both the North-, and Latin-American region.

For Joep Belien, “We settled here because of Medellín’s’ focus on IT and engineering education, the startup environment, the entrepreneurship and the supportive government and business environment. The Sana Medellin office has not only grown in terms of team size, but also in terms of roles. In addition to a sharp increase in the size of the commercial and delivery organization for the Americas, business support functions such as HR, Recruitment and Finance are now also based here. In addition to that, we’re looking to drive new business development in North-America from here in Medellín, next to the existing sales we already manage from here for Latin-America.”

Carlos Jaramillo, Manager of the Talent and Employability Portfolio of Ruta N, assures that “Sana Commerce is a success case of Ruta N’s landing program where we facilitate the landing of companies in the city. This demonstrates the importance of continuing to create value from our proposal of talent, networks, workspaces and connection with digital services in Medellin, articulated with the ACI Medellin and ProColombia”.

Sana Commerce Medellin serves an increasing number of clients in the North-, and Latin American time zone, works closely together with the New York City office and gets the support to keep this growth going. “We are one of the fastest growing regions globally”, concluded Beliën.

Check all the vacancies for Medellín HERE

 

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Smart City Technology & The Digital Opportunity in Medellín

The Agency for Cooperation and In- vestment of Medellín and the Metropolitan Area (ACI Medellín) pro- motes cooperative and collaborative alliances to strengthen the development of Medellín and its surrounding areas. ACI Medellín is particularly active in the knowledge sharing and innovation spaces and ACI Medellín believes that it is critical to engage with actors across the ecosystem

to cultivate innovation. Smart city policy and the digital opportunity are key factors for “Medellín Futuro”, the city’s local development plan. In order to maintain its position as an attractive city for business and glob- al cooperation, ACI Medellín seeks to strengthen its knowledge sharing and innovation apparatus.

ACI Medellín is proud to present the following brief in collaboration with Mohammad Zia, a Sinclair-Kennedy Fellow at Harvard University and an International Fellow at the Institute for Technology and Society in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (ITS Rio). Mohammad is researching the role of emerging technologies in promoting econom- ic development and inclusion in Latin America.

Authors  

Mohammad Zia (Harvard University and  ITS Río de Janeiro)

Natalia Currea Dereser (Knowledge and innovation leader-ACI Medellín)

Juan Camilo Betancur Rendón (Knowledge and innovation team- ACI Medellín).

The document is available bith in English and Spanish

El documento está disponible en Español e Inglés

 

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