Italy and Colombia strengthen their relations through Ferrovie dello Stato

Rome, 30 September 2020

The FS Italiane Group’s CEO and General Manager, Gianfranco Battisti, met in Rome with representatives of the Government of Colombia and the Ambassador to Italy, Gloria Isabel Ramírez, for the “Colombian Investment Summit” (7-9 October), an international event in which investments in strategic infrastructure within the South American country are determined and scheduled.

In addition to confirming the excellent rapport of friendship with Colombia, Battisti emphasised how the joint cooperation of the Italian and Colombian Ministries of Foreign Affairs which will generate many opportunities for development in a range of areas including major infrastructure works and rail and road transport, including through the transfer of technology and know-how.

For Colombian Ambassador, Gloria Isabel Ramírez, FS Italiane’s arrival in Colombia is great news in view of the recent opening in Bogotá of a branch of Italferr – the company controlled by FS – that will generate new jobs and confirm the excellent relations between the two countries. Despite the COVID-19 emergency, the diplomat confirms that Colombia and Italy are reviving their short- and long-term strategic goals and projects to best address this humanitarian, social and economic crisis.

In late August, FS Italiane – through its engineering company Italferr in consortium with other international operations – was awarded the supervision of Colombia’s Line 1 of the Bogotá Metro, worth over 50 million euro. The tender, run by the Empresa Metro de Bogotá, is part of the project “PLMB - Primera Línea del Metro de Bogotá - Tramo 1” that foresees the realisation of 24 kilometres of metro line, including 16 stations and underground routes, as well as deposits for rolling stock in the area of the Colombian capital (with a total investment of 4.3 billion US dollars). It is the flagship infrastructure project for the Colombian market and currently one of the most international initiatives in the field of mass public transport.

The FS Italiane Group is also present in Colombia with Anas that, in a consortium with other companies, executed the integral structuring of about 3,000 kilometres of roads on behalf of the Agencia Nacional de Infraestructura (ANI) under the 4G (Fourth Generation Road Infrastructure Programme) and developed the executive project for 13 bridges for INVIAS, the national road manager. The orders generated total revenues of 70 billion Colombian pesos, of which 14 billion was the Anas share (equivalent to around 17 million euro).