Latin America's No. 4 oil producer has set ambitious goals for increasing oil and coal production over the next few years but sector players say lack of ports, capacity at existing harbors and other infrastructure may delay those gains.
"I have a list of 29 ports that we still haven't accepted ... we have from all (sectors), coal, oil, containers, bulk loading among others," Maria Ines Agudelo, head of the National Institute of Concessions, told La Republica newspaper.
"Here the problem is that applications remain jammed ... from now to December all the requests will be resolved, whether accepted or denied or being processed."
Colombia, the world's No. 5 coal exporter, has seen a five-fold increase in foreign investment, especially in oil and mining, since 2002 due to the country's U.S.-backed offensive that pushed leftist rebels to remote jungle hide-outs. (Reuters)
