OECD Territorial Reviews: Colombia 2014
Regional development policy is a priority of Colombia’s government. The country has
experienced sustained economic growth over the past decade; yet several territories
still lack development opportunities. To promote growth in all regions the government
has engaged in a series of reforms. For instance, it started allocating royalty payments
generated by hydrocarbon resources to all departments and most municipalities, including
those that are not endowed with natural resources. The reform also promotes better
multilevel governance and represents a good policy practice for countries seeking
to link natural resource development with regional development.
To support the current efforts of Colombia’s government, this report illustrates policy
recommendations to help national authorities adopting a territorial approach to inclusive
economic development. In particular, the OECD recommends to: a) improve the quantity
and quality of regional statistics and formulate urban and rural taxonomies that help
tailor policies to places; b) involve territorial constituencies in the design of
policy interventions and allocate to them more implementation responsibilities within
the framework of the National Development Plan; c) promote coordination among subnational
bodies to scale up investment in territories to avoid that public investment – and
royalty payments – gets dispersed in a myriad of small-scale projects.
Published on December 01, 2014
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