The current economic prospects of the former presidents of Anif

During the General Assembly of the 50 years of Anif, the panel ‘The vision of the former presidents of Anif’ was held. It was moderated by Andrés Mompotes, director of El Tiempo Casa Editorial, who guided the conversation between three great professionals who passed through Anif: Ernesto Samper Pizano (1976-1981), Marta Lucía Ramírez (1989-1990), Santiago Montenegro Trujillo (2001- 2002) and Sergio Clavijo (2005-2019).

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To start the conversation, Mompotes highlighted the importance of Anif in the country. “I want to bring up an article that I found in the historical archive of El Tiempo that, when describing Anif, said about this institution that a good part of the national intelligence has passed through Anif.”

“That is much more than true, it is fair to say: Anif is an icon of ideas, of thought,” continued Mompotes, who also explained that the conversation would focus on the former presidents’ reflections on the economic situation in Colombia.

To start, heThe leaders took a tour of the country’s history, highlighting the damage that drug trafficking inflicted on the country’s economy. A reality that most of them had to deal with, and others had to build from there.

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And, what is Anif’s role in the current situation? Mompotes asked: “What should be the issues that the country’s next rulers, regardless of their political current, should focus on to get out of the current economic problems? (like fallen indicators)“.

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Samper expressed: “I would identify 3 political moments that were also economic moments: the first, the arrival of drug trafficking; the second, the 1991 constitution; the third was peace (…) regarding the situation, I do not conceive that the concept of the public has to be reduced strictly to the State. The state cannot be confused with the public. I also consider that the concept of private activity has to be only of the business sector. There are emblematic cases that show that it is efficient to combine them, for example, Sisbén“.

To finish, He highlighted the importance of institutions and stated that they must be preserved and protected.

The next to answer was Ramírez. “As former President Samper said, it is important to remember that the 1991 constitution was the great reform of recent years, it had successes and failures. It was very successful socially, but unfortunately those constituents thought more with desire than with the economic reality of the country and then we saw a State overwhelmed by a number of new obligations and responsibilities that from a fiscal point of view have taken away space for economic growth.”he assured.

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As for the future, Ramírez said: “Today we have uncertainty about the future of large companies. Of course we must leave a space for the public sector in business development that sometimes private capital cannot sustain alone. But as long as there are governance standards, corporate standards that guarantee transparency and absolute integrity in the management of company resources to cover the social purpose that corresponds to them.”

Finally, highlighted the importance of combating informal work.

Samper Pizano

Sergio Acero/ CEET

In this regard, Montenegro stated: “The country must be formalized and productivity increased. The outlook is favorable, despite the problems, we have made a lot of progress and powers and their division have been protected. But if we solve all the problems, the potential is gigantic, due to many things, including our proximity to the United States and our diversity. We could be a tourist power, we could export medical and dental services, we could fill the eastern plains with new products. What I want to say is that the potential is great but first we must solve the structural problems.”

(Read: The consequences of not saving and prioritizing consumption for an economy)

Finally, Clavijo stated: “If one does the fiscal accounts to talk about the tax challenge, in the next decade the health burden is going to increase by one point of the GDP. The first task of 2026 has to look at the VAT figure, bring it closer to the effective rate of the 12% to 19%. Currently we collect 8 points of GDP in VAT, we are missing 2. In Chile there are no payment exemptions, everyone pays the same but on the spending side we look at who has to be helped.”

PORTFOLIO