Responding to a need to study and spread innovative territorial development strategies and governance in a more systematic way, in 1999 the OECD created the Territorial Development Policy Committee (TDPC) as a unique forum for international exchange and debate. The TDPC has developed a number of activities, including a series of national Territorial Reviews. These studies follow a standard methodology and a common conceptual framework, allowing countries to share their experiences and disseminate information on good practices.

Colombia’s economic success in recent decades reflects the development of its hydrocarbon resources, its increased integration into the world economy, the pacification of the country after a generation of armed conflict, and improved governance. Economic growth has benefited an increasing number of citizens. Poverty rates have fallen in the past decade, and unemployment rates, though still high, have started to come down. These positive trends have paved the way for an ambitious reform agenda, in all areas of public policy.

Colombia is a large country that covers an area of 1.14 million square kilometres (almost twice the size of Texas or France), bordering two oceans and encompassing part of Amazonia and of the Andes. The country’s ethnic minorities include Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities, which enjoy special status in the nation. Regional economies specialise in activities like intensive (tropical) agriculture, extractive industries, manufacturing and services (especially in urban areas). This regional diversity, however, is not reflected in the territorial statistics. An abundance of administrative data is available at the national and municipal level, but Colombia has no spatial framework for organising regional data. This has been something of an obstacle to a more thorough analysis. In Colombia, the data for the OECD’s smallest unit of territorial analysis, Territorial Level 3 (TL3), is not available. Such data could have been useful for comparison with TL3 regions in the OECD as a whole (1 791 regions in 34 countries). Most of the analysis in this review was carried out at Territorial Level 2 (TL2), which, in Colombia, includes the 32 departments and the capital, Bogotá. This report should be considered the first step in a process to help bring Colombia up to OECD standards in terms of regional statistics and indicators.

This chapter illustrates regional trends in Colombia, and assesses the national territorial information system. The chapter is organised into five main sections. After a brief introductory section, the second section provides an overview of the current system of territorial statistics in Colombia. The third section identifies the prevailing territorial definitions and places them in the context of the OECD’s regional taxonomy. The fourth section reviews the existing territorial statistics, with the aim of providing baseline information and highlighting the analytical potential of several existing databases; this section also provides a preliminary assessment of key socio-economic trends in Colombian territories. Finally, the last section outlines possible measures that could strengthen Colombia’s territorial information system.

This chapter discusses both urban and rural development policies in Colombia. It suggests how Colombia could better link the currently disconnected urban and rural policy agendas to improve regional development outcomes. The chapter is divided into three main parts. The first part focuses on Colombia’s urban development policy and, in particular, assesses the recent efforts to connect the main urban agglomerations. The second part discusses the national rural development policy, which although it focuses on agriculture, is also experimenting with a holistic approach to territorial development in low densely populated areas. Finally, the third part draws some general conclusions and sums up key recommendations.

This chapter analyses the main characteristics, strengths and potential challenges of the system of royalty payments in Colombia, and notably its contribution to territorial development policy. The chapter is made up of three parts. The first offers historical background on the reform of royalty payments and discusses the political economy of reform challenges that have faced the government in the transition towards the new system. The second illustrates the chief characteristics and advantages of the new system. The third part assesses the system’s key challenges and presents a set of policy recommendations.

This chapter assesses Colombia’s industrial policy and its implications for regional development. It is divided into three main sections. The first focuses on Colombia’s macroeconomic trends and structural policies in the context of economic diversification, taking stock of prior efforts. The second section describes the role of regions and geography in the diversification strategy. A number of issues important for regional development are explored, including cities, inequality and multi-level governance. Section three describes Colombia’s industrial policy and the current diversification strategy, taking into account the role of different types of regions. The chapter concludes with a number of recommendations for national authorities with respect to the current strategy of industrial diversification.

This chapter analyses governance tools to co-ordinate public investment across levels of government in Colombia. In particular, it focuses on the use of intergovernmental contracts, so far applied in seven regions (departementos). The chapter is organised into four main sections. The first outlines the characteristics of the seven contracts that have already been drawn up and discusses the financial aspects and key strategic priorities selected by each region. The second section assesses the instrument, discusses the policy/legal framework of the contracts (Contrato Plan), and makes some international comparisons. The third section evaluates opportunities and challenges for the use of contracts in Colombia, presenting evidence from case studies. Finally, specific recommendations to improve the use of contracts are outlined.

This chapter assesses public finances in Colombia from a regional perspective. In particular, it looks at how fiscal limitations on sub-national governments may undermine the feasibility of moving towards a territorial approach to economic development. The first section gives an overview of fiscal decentralisation in Colombia, and highlights the impact direct transfers from the central government have on the propensity of the sub-central governments to raise their own revenues (fiscal inertia). The second section discusses budget balancing and debt at the sub-national level. It also focuses on public investment and fiscal discipline at the territorial level. Finally, the third and final section contains a set of recommendations to improve the efficiency of sub-national public finances and establish a better framework to promote public investments.

This chapter is divided into two main parts, discussing integrity in the public sector and citizen engagement with the policy process. The first, focused on integrity, explains the current legal framework, illustrates the challenges at stake and provides policy recommendations to encourage the current positive trend that characterises Colombia. The second section discusses citizen participation in Colombia, showcasing the current policy framework and – based on information collected in three local case studies – presents several policy recommendations to improve the current situation.