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Bogota Talks to the World
Invest in Bogota
mm/dd/aaaa: 05/25/2011



The Globe and Mail, a Canadian newspaper, recently published a special about Bogota’s efforts to have and offer bilingual labor force to companies that have established bilingual operations in their Bogota headquarters.

The publication presented a real case of a resident of Bogota who, aware of the importance of having conversational skills in English in order to improve his job opportunities, attend an English program called Talk to the World, a joint venture of the city government and Invest in Bogota, the investment promotional agency funded by the local chamber of commerce and government. Testimonies like the one given by Mr. Escobar (a person who runs a five-person software company) demonstrate that the Program is an excellent opportunity for people to practice and improve their English skills and to get an added-value work: At a recent graduation ceremony of the Talk to the World program, several international companies set up recruiting tables to interview graduates.

The Globe and Mail remarked: “Bogota is not only talking to the world; it’s eager to join the global marketplace. (…) Latin America’s third most populous nation and fifth-biggest economy, Colombia is rated by The World Bank as having one of the best business environments in the region, despite continuing concerns about human rights violations and political violence.”

Even though Bogota’s human resources are fantastic, the inability of many residents to work in English continues to be a problem, especially for multinational companies, explains The Globe and Mail.

The executive director of Invest in Bogota, Adriana Suarez, stated: “there is a push at all levels of education to expand the teaching of English to meet the demands of a global economy. The agency has targeted several key areas for foreign investment, including business-process outsourcing, tourism, and oil field and mining services – all of which need bilingual employees”.



Source: Invest in Bogota (mm/dd/aaaa: 05/27/2011) 


Read The Globe and Mail ‘s full article about bilinguism in Bogota


Read about Talk to the World, the English program financed by the city government