Colombia welcomes Korean companies to bid for energy and mining projects, Diego Mesa, Colombia’s minister of energy and mining said on Aug. 25, during an interview with The Korea Herald in Seoul.

According to Mesa, Colombia has two major auctions for renewable energy and oil and gas coming up in October and December. 

“Colombia’s main policy has been energy transition and multiplication. Korean companies can take part in upcoming biddings either directly or through providing goods for companies that would participate in auction,” he said.

Mesa said Colombia’s mining sector would open up areas for abundant copper and other metals required in the energy transition.

He said Colombia was launching a road map for the hydrogen economy similar to that of Korea’s Green New Deal, and is aiming to become a major exporters of clean hydrogen in the next two years.

Mesa added Colombia hopes to build an alliance with Korean organizations like H2 Korea, and also expand its commitment to sustainable development.

He said importer countries such as South Korea can transition in to a cleaner economy, source clean hydrogen from Colombia and Colombia can be used as export or transportation hubs due to its port infrastructure and access to the Pacific and the Atlantic.

“Colombia can learn from what Korea has done in the last couple of years -- launching a road map in 2019,” Mesa said.

According to Mesa, Colombia has a number of incentives such as lower income tax, VAT and tariff exemptions for green and blue hydrogen.

Mesa said Colombia NDC or national development plan has mandated distribution companies to use 10 percent energy source from renewable energy applicable to hydrogen.

“Colombia has a fiscal framework for renewables such as geothermal biomass and has special packages to strengthen sustainable mobility such as electrical vehicles for quality of air,” Mesa said.

Mesa also discussed supply chain and market access saying Colombia and Korea has FTA to facilitate businesses and Colombia’s fiscal incentives would increase Korean businesses in Colombia.

“Colombia is very well known in south America as a stable democracy, clear respect for rule of law, investment security and stability of law that differentiate Colombia from other countries in the region,” Mesa said.