Language

The official language is Spanish. Well-educated businesspeople will speak English.

Value System

Society is very class-conscious and is determined by skin color and class membership. Colombia still has one of the highest masculinity index levels in Latin America. Colombians also have a higher level of uncertainty avoidance, which makes Colombians averse to risk and hesitant to accept change easily. The collectivist mindset is very much in evidence. Even foreigners are expected to be late to social occasions.

Business Climate

Relationships play a major role in business associations as traditional elements of trust and mutual dependence are very strong. Colombians are not known for punctuality, while face-to-face meetings are vitally important. Kidnappings are a scourge and an unfortunate consequence of narcoterrorism.

The Pew Global Attitudes Project is an interactive database that allows users to explore public opinion trends in 55 countries on topics ranging from attitudes towards the U.S. to peoples assessments of their own lives to views about globalization, democratization and extremism and other important issues.

Colombia ranks as no. 70 (of 180 countries) on Transparency International’s 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index.