Colombia offers a strategic location, qualified workforce, and world-class infrastructure that make it well-suited for shared services centers. Key advantages include its central location between major business hubs; skilled professionals in fields like business, engineering, and languages; robust data infrastructure with 10 submarine cables; and a stable, pro-business environment with incentives like VAT exemptions. Major companies like Holcim, Diageo, Johnson & Johnson, and AIG have established shared services centers in Colombia, citing the country's talented workforce, economic and political stability, and potential for growth in the region.

1. SHARED SERVICES CENTERS
COLOMBIA:
WIDE ARRAY OF QUALIFIED HUMAN CAPITAL, STRATEGIC
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE TO
RUN SHARED SERVICES CENTERS
BENEFITS FROM SETTING UP A SHARED SERVICES CENTER
A strategic and privileged geographical location.
Qualified human capital – skilled professionals able to meet the
Service Centers industry requirements.
Adatainfrastructurecapableofsupportingworld-classoperations.
Sustained growth of the BPO industry.
A Government committed to the sector.
Cost reduction through a single expert management team.
Process-driven approach: relieving operating loads from the core
business,thusallowingstrategicteamstofocusonkeybusinessactivities.
Management process standardization and simplification.
Unique control environment: company information control and
centralization at the regional level.
Qualityassurance,streamlinedservice,andcontinuousimprovement.
More efficient strategic support to help the company.
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2. KEY DRIVERS IN THE
COLOMBIAN INDUSTRY
Between2001-2014,thenumberofstudentsgraduatingwith
Business Administration, Accounting, and Economy-related
degrees was approximately 962,761, and the number of
engineerswasapproximately635,965.
(MinistryofEducation,2015)
Colombia was included in the “Top 30 Countries for
Offshore Services” report. The report features the
advantages of the country’s location to run call center
operations and transactional BPO activities, as well as the
government’s proactive support towards the IT sector and
competitivecosts.
(Gartner,2015)
Cultural Ties: in terms of language, Colombia has the
second largest population among Spanish-speaking
countries around the world, making it ideal to serve the
Latin American market. In addition, the Colombian
accent is one of the most neutral sounding, which is
perfect for voice servicing. (EconomistIntelligenceUnit,2014)
Costs and quality of labor: Colombia is second place in
average salaries in the region, keeping quality in line with
labor costs in addition to Colombia ranking as a competi-
tive market in terms of office costs. (IMD,2014)
Colombia has become an exporting platform for Latin
America, the US, and Europe, providing voice and back
office services in Spanish and English for the most part.
AccordingtotheIMD’sWorldCompetitivenessYearbook
2015, Colombia is the South American economy with the
best-qualified work force, way ahead of countries like
Peru and Brazil. Within South America and Central Ame-
rica, Colombia is ranked second place.

3. A STRATEGIC AND PRIVILEGED
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION
COLOMBIA enjoys a highly strategic
location - the country is at the center of
five time zones and sits in the same zone
as important business centers such as
New York, Toronto, and Miami.
Located in the middle of the major
business and financial centers in the
hemisphere,itsharesculturallinkages,
important in the consolidation of
regional operations.
As of 2015, Colombia has: 1,082 direct
international flights per week, 5,984
domestic flights per week, it is located
less than 6 hours from the main capital
cities in Latin America, and there are 24
different airlines operating in Colombia.
(OAG,december2015)

4. WORLD - CLASS INFRASTRUCTURE
HIGH CONNECTIVITY
BOGOTÁ
BUCARAMANGA
MEDELLÍN
TOLU
BARRANQUILLA
CALI
SAC
MAYA - 1
CFX - 1
SAM - 1
PAN-AM
AMX - 1
PCCS
ARCOS
GLOBENET
CARTAGENA
COLOMBIA HAS
10 SUBMARINE CABLES, INCLUDING:
Sam 1 25,000 km
Globenet 23,500 km
Cfx 22,000 km
SubmarinedatainfrastructureinColombiahasincreased.currently,there
are10cablesthatreachcolombianshores,withtrafficfocusedontheAtlan-
tic and recently towards the Pacific. (IT Manager, 2014)
Cali is becoming a key location for data output to Asia. (IT Manager, 2014)
Source: Teleography
Maya Cable & Wireless -
Verizon
Columbus Network -
Axtel
Columbus Network
America Movil
Telefonica
Tata Communications
AT&T
Cable & Wireless -
Telefonica
BGT Pactual
Level3
Arcos Riohacha and Cartagena
Tolu
Amx - 1 Barranquilla and Cartagena
Sam 1 Barranquilla
PCCS Cartagena
CFX Cartagena
Globenet Barranquilla
South American
Crossing
Buenaventura (Pacifico)
PanAm Barranquilla
922.5 Gbt/s
Lit Capacity: 450Gbt/s
End of life: 8.4 Tbt/s
End of life: 85Tbt/s
Lit Capacity: 40 Gbt/s
Lit capacity: 70 Gbt/s
End of life: 300 Tbt/s
End of life: 10 Tbt/s
Lit capacity: 900 Gbt/s
End of life: 12 Tbt/s
Lit capacity: 1.2 Tbt/s
End of life: 7 Tbt/s
Lit capacity: 8 Tbt/s
MinTicSan Andres-
Tolu
San Andres - Tolu 826 km
CABLE DESTINATION IN COLOMBIA BUILDER CAPACITY

5. Continuous consolidation of trade relationships between Colombia and the rest of the world opens a
window of opportunity for investment in all business outsourcing services. Given the shared service
industryseeksforprocesscentralizationandservicesexportstotheregion,Colombiabecomesahighly
prepareddestinationforsuchoperations.
COLOMBIA, A COUNTRY WITH
MULTIPLE DEVELOPMENT CENTERS
OPENING OF NEW MARKETS
INTERESTING GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS
Bogotá
Medellín
Cali
Barranquilla
Bucaramanga
The National Government is determined to provide support and help throu-
gh the Productive Transformation Program, a strategy focused on promo-
ting the development of the sector which, in recent years, has created a
positive momentum to build world recognition. The work the program
conducts within the sector is centered on four drivers: human capital,
standardsandregulatoryframework,strengthening,promotionandinnova-
tion of the sector, and infrastructure and sustainability.
A government plan with the purpose of fostering economic growth based on
the use and approval of ICTs among the Colombian population and develop-
ment of a national digital environment. This project is led by the National
Government and MinTIC. Among other results, it is expected to provide
connectivity for 1,078 municipalities for a total of 1,100 by 2014.
Job creation program: the objective is to create a 40,000 employment
program for young people between 18 and 28 years old with government
support for salaries and payroll taxes during the first 6 months.

6. ATTRACTIVE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
COMPETITIVE LABOR REGULATIONS
Flexible shifts in a 48-hour week spread across 6 days; up to 10 continuous hours per day without overtime. There are no mini-
mum local employee thresholds when hiring foreign workers. Flexible salaries according to different types of work contracts.
VALUE ADDED TAX EXEMPTION
Applicable for cross-border services granted in Colombia, either used or consumed exclusively abroad. To be eligible for this tax
exemption, Colombian companies must be enrolled in the Unique Tax Registry as a service exporter and hold the relevant
documents that authorize service exports.
MAJOR FOREIGN COMPANIES CHOSE COLOMBIA AS AN INVESTMENT
DESTINATION TO SET UP SHARED SERVICE CENTERS
“Holcim chose Colombia due to
the quality of its human values,
qualified personnel,
hard-working attitude, and
commitment to service. A service
center relies on its human
resources, and Colombia
provides skilled personnel
capable of providing high-quality
services to eight different
countries in Latin America”.
AlejandroCarballido,
CEOHolcrest
“There are a number of reasons why
we decided to invest in Colombia:
Colombia has a strategic location in
the middle of the region; from the
business and institutional point of
view, the country is very stable, with
a bright future ahead and, most
importantly, people here meet our
expectations. Colombia has great
talent, trained professionals, several
universities, language-proficient
staff, and people with great passion
and energy making a difference”.
GonzaloArias, CEO– SSC
DiageoColombia.
“For Johnson & Johnson
Colombia is a Strategic country
for them to go. They believe that
Colombia is very appropriate for
them to start a shared service
center. The three main reasons
are: first of all Colombia is a very
stable economy, second it’s a
country that has strong
institutions, and third because it’s
also a country that attracts a lot of
talent and well educated people.”
Susan Rivetti,Johnson & Johnson
Chairman Latin America
“After an exhausted search
AIG determined that
Colombia was the best
option based on the
progress that they will find
and the most exceptional
talent. They also know that
there is a great stability in
Colombia. Today, Colombia
is a very safe place to invest
and life.
JorgeGilling,GerenteGeneral
CentrodeServiciosCompartidos
AIGColombia.
AIG