Republic of Colombia

• Relationship with New Zealand
• Key facts
• Embassies
• Travel advice

Relationship with New Zealand

Relations with Colombia are good, but the level of contact is modest, reflecting Colombia’s domestic and regional priorities and the relatively low level of trade. Prime Minister John Key met President Uribe in November 2008, in Lima, Peru.

New Zealand and Colombia are cooperating to address greenhouse gas emissions in the agricultural sector through participation in the Livestock Emissions and Abatement Research Network (LEARN).

Trade and economic links

New Zealand exports to Colombia grew from NZ$0.4m in 1990 to NZ$25.7m in 1997, but have declined since then as dairy exports to Colombia have decreased. Exports in 2008 were NZ$7.4 million. Import levels from Colombia have grown from around NZ$5 million each year from 2001-2005, to just under NZ$10 million in 2008. Bilateral trade is dominated by exports of electronic machinery and imports of coffee.

People to people links

Education and exchange programmes

Productive working relationships have been developed by the New Zealand Embassy in Chile with the scholarship agencies Colfuturo and Icetex. Both are interested in closer engagement with New Zealand universities and in student mobility in both directions.

The Embassy has also established contacts with individual universities that are interested in engaging with New Zealand counterparts, and has run visa workshops for education agents. New Zealand institutions also visit the market in increasing numbers for annual education fairs.

New Zealand is becoming a very attractive country to study for Colombian students, particularly in English language courses, with some interest in postgraduate study.

The number of Colombians choosing to study in New Zealand has steadily increased in the last five years. During 2007/2008 the number of student visas issued almost doubled, from 196 in 2006/2007 to 292 in 2007/2008. At the moment, there are three exchange programmes approved by the Ministry of Education, Immigration NZ and Colombia:

• Christchurch Rudolf Steiner School / Colegio Luis Horacio Gomez, Colombia – current since June 2008 for 5 students per year for a stay up to 12 years
• Taikura Rudolf Steiner School / Luis Horacio Gomez Waldorf School, Colombia – current since May 2008 for 16 students per year for a stay up to 6 months
• Victoria University/EAFIT University, Colombia – current since June 2008 for 15 students per year for a max stay of 12 months.

Immigration and Tourism

A small number of Colombians have settled in New Zealand permanently under New Zealand’s United Nations refugee quota since 2007.

There are an increasing number of short term visitor arrivals from Colombia to New Zealand (1,151 Colombians visited New Zealand in the 2007/2008 year, and figures for the 2008/2009 year to date suggest that numbers will be higher).

The British Embassy in Bogota, Colombia used to issue visitor visas on behalf of New Zealand, but this stopped on 1 July 2008. All visa applications are now processed by the New Zealand Embassy in Chile.

Political links

Multilateral links

Foreign, agriculture and trade ministers from the two countries have met periodically at meetings of the United Nations, Cairns Group, World Trade Organisation and the Forum for Latin America and East Asia Cooperation. Colombia is participating in the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation talks.

Development assistance

The New Zealand Agency for International Development provides a small fund for discrete development projects in Colombia. This Head of Mission Fund, as it is called, provides NZ$25,000 per year and is administered by the New Zealand Embassy in Chile. The Embassy receives few applications, which may reflect the modest level of contact.

 

Key facts

Geography/Demography

Land Area –  1,140,000 sq km
Population –  47 million (The Economist, 2007 estimate)
Capital City – Santa Fe de Bogotá (population 6 million)
Religion –  Roman Catholic 90%, other 10%
Official Language –  Spanish
Currency – Colombian peso (COP)
Exchange Rate – 1 NZD = 1,288.31 COP (2 February 2009)

Political

Political system –  Unitary republic

National government – The president heads the executive branch and is elected for a four-year term, with the possibility of being re-elected for a second term.

National legislature – Legislative power is vested in Congress, which consists of the Senate (the upper house) and the Chamber of Representatives (the lower house), both elected by popular vote for four years.

Last election – May 2006
Next election due – May 2010
Head of State and Government – Alvaro Uribe Vélez
Key Opposition MPs – Carlos GAVIRIA Diaz (PDA)  

Main political parties – Colombian Conservative Party or PC [Efrain Jose Cepeda CEPEDA Sarabia]; Alternative Democratic Pole or PDA [Carlos Gaviria Diaz]; Liberal Party or PL [Cesar Gaviria Trujillo]; Radical Change or CR [German Vargas Lleras]; Social National Unity Party or U Party [Carlos Garcia Orjuela].  

Cabinet consists of a coalition of the three largest parties that supported President Uribe's re-election - the PSUN, PC, and CR - and independents.

Administration

President	Alvaro Uribe Vélez
Vice-President	Francisco Santos Calderon
Minister for the Interior & Justice	Carlos Holguin
Minister of Foreign Affairs	Jaime Bermudez
Minister of Finance	Oscar Zuluaga
Minister of Defence	Juan Manuel Santos
Minister of Agriculture	Andres Felipe Arias
Minister of Social Protection	Diego Palacio Betancourt
Minister of Mines and Energy	Hernan Martinez Torres
Minister of Trade, Industry & Tourism	Luis Guilllermo Plata
Minister of Education	Cecilia María Vélez
Minister of Environment, Housing and Social Development	Juan Lozano Ramirez
Minister of Communications	Maria del Rosario Guerra de Mesa
Minister of Transport	Andrés Uriel Gallego
Minister of Culture	Paula Marcela Moreno

Economic

GDP –  US$206.1 billion (2007, The Economist)
GDP breakdown: Goods – 46%, Services - 54% (2008 estimate, CIA World Factbook)
GDP Per Capita – US$4,390 (2007, The Economist)
GDP Per Capita (PPP) – US$8,064 (2007, The Economist)
Real GDP Growth – 2.8% (2008 estimate, The Economist)
Exports FOB – US$41.08 billion (2008 estimtate, CIA World Factbook)
Imports – US$38.88 billion (2008 estimate, CIA World Factbook)
Main exports – petroleum, coffee, coal, nickel, emeralds, apparel, bananas, cut flowers
Inflation –    7.1% (2008 estimate, The Economist)
Gross external debt – 50.4% of GDP (public, 2008 estimate, CIA World Factbook)
Budget balance – US$5.592 billion deficit (2008, CIA World Factbook), 2.9% GDP (2008, The Economist)

Trade with New Zealand

Top five New Zealand exports to Colombia (Year to June 2008)

NZ$ (FOB)

Sugars, incl chem. Pure lactose	1.06
Paper and paperboard	0.54
Wood sawn or chipped	0.44
Print machinery incl. ink jets	0.39
Cheese and curd	0.38

Top five imports from Colombia to New Zealand (Year to June 2007)

NZ$ (CIF)

Coffee	4.8
Insecticides	1.46
Medicaments	0.78
Veg moulded resin	0.44
Ambergris, civet and musk	0.42

 

Embassies

The New Zealand Embassy in Chile is also responsible for Colombia.

There is a New Zealand Honorary Consul in Bogotá, Colombia called Annette Pearson.

The Colombian Embassy in Tokyo is also responsible for New Zealand.

Travel advice

The New Zealand government's safetravel website has comprehensive travel information including advice on the safety and security of travel to Colombia.

• Colombia travel advisory

Further enquiries may be directed to:

Consular Division
Tel: +64 4 439 8000
Fax: +64 4 439 8532
cons@mfat.govt.nz