'Public investment continues to be very weak,' the president said. 'We hope that by defeating the bureaucratic state we will open spaces and will increase that level with new resources.'
Uribe told his audience that, in the meantime, Colombian businesses had a golden opportunity to fill the investment gap and help reduce poverty -a key aim of his administration.
But businesspeople said that, while they agreed with the president's sentiments, his government had to make it easier for them to invest. Most cited uncertainties over foreign trade deals, high taxation levels and weak consumer demand as the reason why their hands are staying firmly in their pockets.
The country's important agricultural and textile sectors are unlikely to invest until they are clearer about what a future Free Trade Area of the Americas will mean for them. Both sectors would grow considerably if they were able to gain greater access to the US market, but they are particularly worried that Colombia could be flooded with cheap imports.
Textile sector spokesperson Iván Amaya also warned President Uribe that any new taxes would wipe out any potential investment capacity in the industry. Colombia's business sector are already footing the bill for the president's so-called 'war tax' and they are concerned that they are paying more than their fair share towards the government's ambitious social and military programmes.
'I think the President's call is very positive; now we will see if the finance minister stops strangling us and lets us invest,' Juan Alfredo Pinto, who represents Colombia's small and medium-sized businesses, said.
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