Country Spotlight : Colombia

​Colombia: a country of widely diverse geography with one of the richest cultural traditions in Latin America and a nation in development with a high potential for growth and progress. It’s not a coincidence that JAS settled here 15 years ago to secure a presence in some of the most important cities and ports in the country.

JAS supplies several industries that move Colombia’s economy such as construction, food and, automotive. Multinational companies the likes of Kimberly-Clark and Avery Dennison, to just name a couple, have found in JAS Colombia the appropriate infrastructure and human resources to give them the level of management and follow-up business that they need. JAS' goal in the short and long term has been to begin the exporting of perishables such as fruits and flowers, which are notoriously varied and rich in Colombia and would be highly appreciated abroad. JAS is confident that through our continued expertise and dedication that this goal will be achieved with great success. 

In 2015 JAS Colombia faced two particular situations that affected several industries in and around Colombia and that do business with Colombia, including the freight forwarding business.  One, which has had a negative impact on the country as a whole, is the rise in the value of the US dollar against the Colombian peso, which has been the highest it has been in more than two decades and has negatively affected imports. This has affected many companies because they have had to reduce inventory in order to maintain business against the rising costs. This should, in turn, have boosted exports, as it has in many other regions, but Colombia is not a country like most and its economy does not always do as predicted. Colombia has its own idiosyncrasy and way of dealing with crises, so exports have kept steady but not increased. JAS Colombia hopes to help this change in the coming months as Colombia continues to grow in-spite of the issues its economy faces. 

The second situation has impacted JAS Colombia positively: the unexpected closing of the frontier between Colombia and Venezuela. In years past, the trade between both countries’ main way of transportation was terrestrial, an industry in which JAS Colombia had no participation. With the closing of the territory, however, imports and exports between the nations were forced to change to maritime and JAS has been instrumental in this change, opening a new window of a business that has boosted our productivity and benefited the country as a whole by offering a solution to the frontier closing. 

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But JAS Colombia is not a company that only cares about business and productivity. The JAS Colombia management team is well aware of the effects any industry can cause on the environment and communities at work around them and has vowed to positively contribute to the communities and environment they call home. In a country where not until recently there were no real programs to take care of the environment, JAS Colombia has stepped up to make the change they want to see in the world.  JAS Colombia only uses recyclable materials that are energy efficient and enforces strict policies in their offices regarding the reuse of materials and paper. Moreover, JAS Colombia is located in a country that  has many social issues to deal with, and so strives to contribute as much as possible to society by way of education, early-childhood care and sports development. These three areas which are close to the JAS spirit. JAS Colombia motivates its employees to achieve higher levels of education by financially sponsoring their initiatives. It also donates significant amounts of money to child care institutions that cater to extremely impoverished areas of Colombian society. Finally, JAS Colombia sponsors young athletes to help them get proper training and areas to play in. 
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JAS Colombia is a young company in a wonderfully unique country, and that’s one of the reasons our work days are always interesting and original. It feels good to know that we are part of Colombia’s dynamic economy and that every day, with every action we take, we are contributing to its growth, its people and, ultimately, its future.

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