BOGOTA (Reuters) - Private investment funds operating in Colombia have around $5 billion available to invest in projects in the Andean country, the investors' guild president said Thursday.
Private investment funds have managed around $16.8 billion in mainly infrastructure projects and real estate during the industry's 15 years in the country, a smaller sum than in other markets in the region such as Mexico, Brazil and Chile.
In recent years these investors have started to focus their resources on new businesses such as startups, Paula Delgadillo, president of the Colombian Association of Private Capital Funds, Colcapital, told Reuters.
"There is more than $5 billion available," she said on the sidelines of an investors' conference. "The potential is huge."
"We are beginning to stop talking only about investing in highways and using private capital to fund the construction of the metro in Bogota, hospitals, regional trains and so on," Delgadillo added.
Colombian authorities are looking to introduce reforms for capital markets to congress this year, in a bid to encourage new investors, financial instruments and initial public offerings.
Close to two-thirds of the 119 private equity funds operating in the country grow using local investment flows, while the rest are made up of resources from Canada, the United States and the European Union.