Hunter Carter, a partner in Arent Fox’s New York office and co-chair of the firm’s Colombia working group, has been published as a guest columnist in the May 8, 2012, edition of Financial Times. Hunter’s column explores two new pieces of legislation in Colombia designed to promote infrastructure investment and to curb corruption in the South American nation.

Hunter writes:

You understand a lot about the investment climate in Colombia once you get out on the road. … Experience the rugged and often single-lane switchbacks south of Medellín. Creep slowly for more than 100km from the Pacific cargo port of Buenaventura to Cali, a regional capital, behind container trucks struggling with washed-out roads.

It is only then that you realise fully that none of the natural resources, consumer products or manufactured goods that entice so many investors will get to market quickly without better transport infrastructure.

At the same time, however, potential infrastructure investors see more than rugged terrain when they contemplate the $100bn of improvements the government says it expects over the next 10 years. They see bidding processes that have often been mired in bureaucratic delays, projects tied up for years in bidding challenges and planning delays. They also know about public corruption. …

The government has responded with two bills. The first is a public-private partnership regime that will replace a creaky public concessions bidding process. The second is an anti-corruption bill aimed at public officials in particular.

It will take more than new legislation and a handful of convictions to end cronyism, tame bureaucracies and expose corruption. But both bills could help expedite a bulging pipeline of projects.

To read Hunter’s article in its entirety, please click here.

If you are interested in additional analysis and commentary from Hunter about legal and business issues in Colombia, please follow him on Twitter and read his blog, The Colombia Law & Business Post.