Colombia as an MIC: new development partnerships and managing hybridity

ABSTRACT

Despite a fairly solid economic performance, and thus classification as a middle-income country, Colombia struggles with the legacies of uneven development. Macroeconomic success and the end of internal conflict have led many donors to plan exit strategies; however, with the new “fragile peace” and the impact of slow international economic recovery, Colombia has a unique opportunity to forge development partnerships to address its historic social and territorial deficits. This article suggests what partnerships might already be emerging, how principal actors could foster inclusive and sustainable development within the country and what Colombia’s new role in South–South cooperation could be.

RÉSUMÉ

Malgré une performance économique assez solide et donc une classification en tant que pays à revenu intermédiaire, la Colombie lutte avec les legs d’un développement inégal. Le succès macroéconomique et la fin du conflit interne ont conduit de nombreux donateurs à planifier des stratégies de sortie. Toutefois, avec la nouvelle « paix fragile » et l’impact d’une lente reprise économique internationale, la Colombie a l’occasion unique de forger des partenariats de développement pour faire face à ses déficits sociaux et territoriaux historiques. Cet article suggère quels partenariats pourraient déjà être en émergence, comment les principaux acteurs pourraient favoriser un développement inclusif et durable dans le pays et quel pourrait être le nouveau rôle de la Colombie dans la coopération Sud-Sud.

KEYWORDS:

• Middle-income countries (MICs)
• official development assistance (ODA)
• international cooperation
• post-conflict recovery
• Colombia

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank Juan David Martinez for his research assistance. She also thanks Stephen Baranyi, Syed Sajjadur Rahman, Lauchlan Munro and two anonymous reviewers for CJDS.

ORCID

Juana García http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9369-7323

Notes

1 The Grupo de Memoria Histórica was created under the 2011 Victims Law. It succeeds the historical memory group of the National Commission for Reparation and Reconciliation (ICG 2012).

2 See http://rni.unidadvictimas.gov.co/?q=v-reportes

3 Tassara (2013) notes 2007 as the year in which Colombia’s SSC offers began to intensify.

4 All figures except for Venezuela are from 2015: Argentina, 0.86 per cent; Chile, 1.9 per cent; Ecuador, 2.69 per cent; Peru, 1.6 per cent; Bolivia, 1.6 per cent; and Venezuela (2014), 1.15 per cent. Source: World Bank (2016g).

5 This includes contributions to the social security system, holidays and mandatory savings as a provision in case of unemployment, among other costs.

6 The EU has revised its cooperation policy, excluding upper MICs from its bilateral cooperation; however, Colombia is benefitting from an exception, which allows it four extra years as an exit strategy.

7 Ministry of Commerce trade statistics for 1991–2014. https://www.nube-mcit.gov.co/public.php?service=files&t=e64a662ddfce73cffdea1b0e5e306f26 (accessed 23 October 2015).

8 The cooperation between Brazil and Colombia has focused on urban sustainability or human rights. In agriculture, specifically, there have been common projects with cacao and epidemic prevention.

9 In South–South cooperation, the term “offeror” is preferred over “donor” because any of the parties is in a position to propose a contract, rather than the traditional “donor” setting the agenda.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Juana García

Juana García is an Assistant Professor at Universidad de los Andes School of Management and Associate Professor at the Center for International Studies (CEI). She holds a PhD in Latin American Studies from Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain. Her research focuses on international development and internationalisation, particularly changes in development cooperation among middle-income countries and implications of this for traditional donors, the private sector and NGOs. In addition, she researches the role of international cooperation in Colombian peacebuilding.