When companies think of Colombia’s tech hubs, Bogotá and Medellín usually top the list. But there’s another city that’s quietly becoming a magnet for BPO, KPO, and tech operations: Cali.
In this episode, we sit down with Valery Sanclemente, Investment Manager for Services at Invest Pacific, to explore why Cali and the surrounding Valle del Cauca region are quickly gaining traction as a competitive destination for global tech and service companies. From its bilingual, job-ready potential and strong university partnerships to generous tax incentives and outstanding infrastructure, Cali offers a unique blend of affordability, quality of life, and growth potential.
Whether you’re looking to scale a remote team or establish a new nearshore office, Cali may be the opportunity you didn’t know you were missing. And this episode’s got all the details to get you started!
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About Our Guest
Name: Valery Sanclemente
What she does: She’s the Investment Manager for Services at Invest Pacific.
Company: Invest Pacific
Where to find Valery: LinkedIn
Episode Highlights
Cali is a smart choice for expanding your tech team into Latin America.
Cali is quickly becoming one of Latin America’s most promising tech hubs thanks to its strategic location, competitive costs, and bilingual talent pool. Valery explains, “The most important is we offer a very competitive cost for the companies, for all of them. Because as you know, we are located in a very strategic location. We are near the Pacific coast and we have, for example, internet fiber optic. […] And also, we are the third most important city in the country. After Bogota and Medellin, we have a very huge population. That means that we have a lot of talent available here in Cali. 40% of the people speak English, so we have a really deep talent pool. And very high quality of life.”
Cali’s strong work culture makes it easier to build connected teams.
In a world where remote work dominates, Cali stands out with a culture that embraces in-person connection. Valery explains, “It’s because we are different from the people from Bogota. As you said, the warmer weather, we are very friendly, we love to be in community. So it’s not like Bogota that you prefer to be at home working remotely than going to the office. Here is the opposite. The people love to go to the office, connect with other people after the office, make plans because the weather at 5 p.m. in Cali is beautiful with the wind and everything. So Cali is very ideal for companies and the people working on site because now everybody wants to work remotely, but sometimes you need the people together to co-create and to grow, it’s important to be together.”
The benefits of Cali’s Free Trade Zone for tech companies
Cali offers a unique advantage with its specialized Free Trade Zone, designed specifically for service companies. As Valery explains, “We have the first free trade zone in services. We also have a free trade zone in Cali in that they offer a significant tax incentive, and it’s the first one focused on services … Around Colombia, we have it, but here is the one that is focused on services. This free trade zone also reduces the income tax rate, because normally in the country, you pay 35% of the tax. But if you establish your company in the free trade zone, you will have 20% of tax. So that is a very good benefit.”
Key Insights
⚡Cali invests heavily in education. The city is making significant strides in developing a highly skilled workforce, with a strong emphasis on education and bilingualism. Valery explains, “We have some programs that are working with the government of Valle del Cauca that are focused on children. So we have English programs for children in the school. They have STEM programs too. So the little kids can enjoy and learn about technology and English, too. Then we have some programs, for example, we have a lot of institutes here in Cali, English Institute. We work with the mayor of Cali to every year increase the number of people that are in this kind of program or courses. All of them are free for the people here in Cali. And also talking about the university – we have 18 universities in Cali, 15 of them have tech programs. So most of them about the university, you required a minimum level of English to graduate. So most of the people, 40%, around 40% of the people that graduate from that university have two languages.”
⚡Cali is soon to become the leading tech hub in Latin America. With strategic investments in education, innovation, and talent development, the city is on track to become a global leader in tech-driven services. As Valery outlines her vision: “Our vision is to position Cali as the top destination in Latin America in tech-driven services like artificial intelligence, digital health, like tech, climate tech, analytics, data analytics. We have a really good university that is focusing on data analytics. We want to scale our bilingual talent and we are working with a mayor on that, like growing the number of people that are now also speaking English … that access to the education. We work very close, but we want to do it better. For example, a long time ago, that they’ll talk people from the company do a teach on the university. So it can collaborate very close. And also, we want to attract more nearshore and high-value operations. And so we expect that in 10 years, Cali will be the reference point for innovation and a very inclusive growth in the region.”
⚡Invest Pacific provides guidance to companies for setting up operations in Cali. Setting up operations in a new country can feel overwhelming, especially when navigating unfamiliar regulations, labor markets, and infrastructure. That’s where Invest Pacific steps in. As Valery explains, “We provide end-to-end confidential and free support. That’s important to say. It begins to understand the company, what are the goals, what are the needs that they have, and we follow by tailor-made information. For example, if you are a BPO, we can send you information about the rotation rates that we have here in the region, how many graduates we have from schools or university, how many of them are bilingual. We connect all the information. Everything is tailor-made with the business, with the talent that we have here, the cost, or the legal process.”