La administracion de justicia

ISSN 2027-4777

Invest in

Colombia
Work Commitment Ingenuity

Invest in

Colombia
Work Commitment Ingenuity

Title: Doing Business and Investing Colombia ISSN 2027-4777 Volume I – No. 2 July 2010 Bogotá D.C.

Publishing Company: Fiducoldex - Fideicomiso Proexport Colombia Foreign Investment Office info@proexport.com.co PricewaterhouseCoopers Tax and Legal Serviceswww.pwc.com/co

Publisher: Legal Foreign Direct Investment Division Phone: +57 (1) 5600100 - Fax: +57 (1) 3415689 PricewaterhouseCoopers Tax and Legal Services Phone: +57 (1) 6340555 - Fax: +57 (1) 6104626

Design: Brand & Communications PricewaterhouseCoopers Picture on the Cover: Proexport Colombia Inside pictures: Proexport Colombia, PricewaterhouseCoopers

Printed by:National Graphics Ltda. Printed in Bogotá D.C., Colombia - July, 2010

The digital version of this document can be found on: www.investincolombia.com.co www.pwc.com/co

No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced or distributed in any fashion or by any means without the prior written permission of the editors. All rights reserved.

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The main purpose of this document,which was made in joint fashion by Proexport and PricewaterhouseCoopers, is to inform the reader in a summarized way about the most relevant legal and tax matters that relate to foreign investment in Colombia. We hope this summary is extremely useful for those interested in doing business in Colombia. The contents of this document were updated in April 2010 and the same are based uponthe information available at the time.

It is worth noting that the investment amounts required for a person to be eligible to claim Free Trade Zone benefits have been stated in minimum legal monthly wages (SMMLV for the Spanish initials), that all the information stated in US dollars has been translated into that currency at a rate of 2,000 COP to the dollar. The minimum legalmonthly wage in Colombia for year 2010 is COP $515,000 (equivalent to US $258), and the foreign exchange rate varies every single day depending upon market demand and supply. The UVT (Tax Value Unit) for year 2010 is COP $24.555 (equivalent to US $12, 27). Finally, we ought to make the point clear that this document is not or does not involve any type of professional advice whatever. Shouldany person intend to act based upon the information included herein, that person will have to seek help from an expert professional which is a specialist in the relevant matters and obtain advice that includes more detailed information in accordance with the person's own particular situation. Therefore, neither Proexport nor PricewaterhouseCoopers shall assume any type ofresponsibility whatever for any decisions adopted by any person solely relying on the information contained herein, i.e. without consulting with an expert professional which is a specialist in the relevant matters.

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Table of Contents
1. 1.1 1.1.1 1.1.1.1 1.1.1.2 1.1.1.3 1.1.1.4 1.1.2 1.1.2.1 1.1.2.2 Foreign Investment and ExchangeRegime................................................................................. 14 Foreign Investment .......................................................................................................................... 15 Principles of the Foreign Investment Regime .................................................................................. 15 Equality of treatment...................................................................................................................... 15 Universality ...................................................................................................................................... 15 Automaticity...................................................................................................................................... 15 Stability...