The following E Mail list is from the print publication: Republic of Colombia ANTIOQUIA: A Competitive Region for Investment.  This fine book is a result of the collaborative efforts of:  Antioquia Governor's Office, Productivity and Competitiveness Secretary's Office, Universidad de Antioquia, School of Economic Sciences and the Economic Research Center, with additional acknowledgments to: Development Institute of Antioquia-IDEA, Antioquia Strategic Plan-PLANEA, Foundation for Antioquia's Progress-Proantioquia.

The book is 123 pages, in English, and packed with useful statistics, graphs and contact information for individuals and companies searching for information and reasons to invest in this beautiful and progressive region of Colombia. 

In addition to being available in print, we believe  this book should also be made available on the Internet. 

Here's why:

1.  The cost-to reproduce the book on the Internet would be a small fraction of the cost of creating and printing hard copies.

The following ANTIOQUIA LINKS LIST was compiled during the third quarter of 2006, when the book was about two years out of print. In addition to the LINKS listed below, there were 26 others which appeared in the book, but were non-working links?

The Home Pages which are accessed by Links below, in our opinion, were not designed and or programed to receive maximum Search Engine exposure. Current Internet statistics show that more than 80% of website visitors find websites via Search Engine Search Results. The ways and methods of maximizing the continual increase of visitors to websites is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  SEO is a multi-million dollar business which now is offered as an important course in many Business Universities.  Most of the Links shown here are difficult or impossible to find on the first few pages of Search Engine Results, and this fact is a major reason why we are happy to provide this list.  

Additionally, there are many political leaders who do not understand the Internet and the importance of maintaining their domain and Home Pages.  Currently, there are more than eight billion website domains and sub-domains listed on Googles estimated 500,000 Search Engine Dedicated PCs which are believed to be located in eight world-wide data centers.  With this number of websites, the time required for the Search Engines to "crawl" the Internet, and find and record new domain names can take many months. The combination of these factors, PLUS the arrogance of many newly elected politicians who "abandon" any remaining domain and Home Page efforts of previous administrations, are major reasons why many government websites fail to achieve even mediocre results for their Home Pages. This ignorance is common among all governments worldwide and is not directed specifically at Colombia governments. 

While this constructive criticism is directed to the State of Antioquia and the City of Medellin, it should be noted that these two political bodies are considered by many in Colombia as the most progressive in the country!  The areas elected political leadership, for the most part, is young, educated, traveled and motivated to lead their governments under "full disclosure, and continually "in the sunshine". 

In greater Medellin, with a population of about 3 million people, it is conservatively estimated there are at least 10,000 people who speak and understand "good quality English".  They remain a valuable resource which is grossly under utilized. The greatest return on investment, toward improving the economy, is without question, the widest possible use of the international language-English!   There remains a great deal of "lip service" toward greater implementation of English, but the results, so far, indicate it's been "for show".  Greatly improved economies and more opportunities for the poor will only be achieved when governments pass and enforce laws that ALL workers, both private and government, who are asked to speak a second language in their jobs are payed and maintained at a pay level amounting toat least 15% ABOVE their current pay!  The payback for this investment in opening the doors of this great area TO THE WORLD, would be noticed in months!  There are a number of "forces" against such an idea.  Who's got the guts to change?  Who has the willpower to eliminate what we believe is the destructive creation of our students inferior complex-forced by the Federal and State governments who continue the required "teaching" of English for five years, when the so-called "results" CAN ONLY BE DESCRIBED AS A COMPLETE FAILURE?  Pronunciation remains as the major problem in language instruction.  We must incorporate either computer assisted education that incorporates NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS, or, on a longer term, implement a teacher exchange program in the teaching of foreign languages.  Or, the choice is ours to continue to raise our general population infested with inferiority complexes? 

A high percentage of political leaders and business owners, plus their top management, speak a second language.  These important people represent the "makers and shakers" of Colombia.  Many of the informed poor are asking the question:  is maintaining the status quo and forever providing only "lip service", their way of maintaining power and economic position?  For the future of a great country-Colombia, we hope not!