Trade monitoring

El órgano supremo para la adopción de decisiones de la OMC es la Conferencia Ministerial, que normalmente se reúne cada dos años.

Social protection refers to publicly provided safety nets of two kinds. The first type is poverty alleviation measures which help people who are born poor or who lack the productive assets or skills to get out of poverty. The second type consists of social insurance programmes or other labour market interventions that allow people to deal with labour market risk. The focus of this chapter is on the social protection systems of the latter type which protect individuals against the negative consequences of labour market changes caused by external shocks.

This is the fifth review of the trade policies and practices of Colombia. During the review period, between the beginning of 2012 and the end of 2017, Colombia’s GDP grew at an average annual rate of 3.3%, driven chiefly by domestic demand. Having reached annual rates exceeding 4% in 2012-2014, this growth subsided somewhat starting in 2015. In 2017, GDP is estimated to have grown by 1.8%. This slowdown was the result of a decrease in exports, particularly oil and other raw materials, and a slower growth in domestic demand. Growth is expected to pick up in 2018. In order to stimulate the economy, the authorities have launched an economic reform programme, which includes tax incentives, reductions in tariffs and other taxes, changes in the investment regime, and increased investment in infrastructure. Although the prospects for economic growth and inflation are favourable, a number of structural problems still pose a significant challenge, including the need to continue promoting diversification of the economy and reducing poverty.