Colombia: 94% of business people are optimistic about the economy

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – This Monday, June 6, in Bogota, the consulting firm Price Waterhouse Cooper Colombia presented the results of the 12th chapter of the Global CEO Survey 2022, also known as PwC’s CEO Survey 2022, in conjunction with the Bogota Chamber of Commerce.

The event took place in the early hours of the morning in the auditorium of the Salitre Business Center of the Bogota Chamber of Commerce and was attended by Nicolás Uribe Rueda, its president; Margarita Henao, CEO of Daviplata, and Carlos Mario Lafaurie Scorza, president of PwC Colombia.

In the middle of the event, Nicolás Uribe said: “It is important to be concerned about social inequality because we have many reasons for indignation”. In the business sector, this issue is vital since “it is important how businessmen relate to the main axes such as conscious capitalism and shared value since they are part of the new business DNA not only in Colombia but also in the world”.

He also stated that “the figures are growing, but with 5, 6 or 7%, we will not be able to overcome poverty”. He added that in the most recent survey, they asked, “what is the role of the entrepreneur, besides accelerating growth?

The lawyer mentioned they surveyed 49 representative companies in the country, using a methodology used for more than 25 years to evaluate the business sector’s possible threats and concerns. He also said that inflation naturally affects companies and is not a minor issue.

He continued: “Businesses are the spearhead of the recovery in Colombia, the recovery of jobs and the improvement in the income of millions of citizens; the pandemic demonstrated the effectiveness of the role of the private sector, not only because of the need to accelerate growth but also because of the reflection on the possibility of accessing opportunities”.

Meanwhile, he emphasized that the environmental impact and the economic recovery of jobs and income were issues that became part of the panorama due to the current global situation.

In this regard, he said that there are only a few companies that are paying attention and that the latest survey shows how there is a funnel regarding climate change; even though people understand what it is, “very few, even today, are taking effective actions from the business dimension to transform the reality of the impact of their company”.

He also stressed the importance of “building legitimacy permanently, because we are in a world where the truth is not “viral”. Companies play an extraordinary role in generating equity,” added Uribe.

Carlos Mario Lafourie, president of Price Waterhouse Cooper, presented the figures from the most recent survey to the audience. It is worth mentioning that 94% of Colombian business people surveyed believe that the country’s economy will improve in 2022. Meanwhile, 69 % believe that their company’s revenues will report growth in the next 12 months.

On the other hand, 67% were more confident about the growth of their revenues for the next three years compared to CEOs in Latin America and the rest of the world. “Perceptions and market expectations lead a company to behave in a certain way,” said Lafourie.

He added that respondents are “optimistic, but concerned, that is the message left by business leaders in Colombia”, and stressed that another issue that worries businessmen is the “economic volatility, in addition to the expectation of the upcoming elections, cyber risks (55 to 69% show concern for digital security, because there is a threat), and climate change”.

He also stated that “concern has led many countries to make an effort to be self-sufficient and have the possibility of producing something that has been invented by someone else”. Likewise, “welfare must be the main protagonist; it must be aimed at people who cannot work”.

“Seventy-five percent of people who are of pensionable age have no pension. It means that 11.2% are still unemployed. Some issues call for reforms: to the working life, to the business issue,” added the president of the pollster.

And he stressed the importance of non-financial results. “There are elements that are not measured in the financial statements, and it is everything that encourages decisive behaviors”, Lafourie pointed out.

Meanwhile, Margarita Henao, CEO of Daviplata, unveiled a new tool (My business) that seeks to boost the economy that moves the country, supporting micro-entrepreneurs in different municipalities away from the main cities so that they can be at the forefront of the business world.

The modern section of the neo-bank allows merchants to stop using cash and generate, among other functions, a QR code for customers to take the respective photograph with their cell phones, enter the store and pay from the application without handling physical money, preventing this from being an excuse not to buy.

With information from Semana