Colombia Jobs

Tips on How to Win the Lotto

Have you every daydreamt about what you would do if you ever won millions? Would you buy a new house? Would you quit your job and travel the world twice over? Would you leave everyone and everything behind and start a new life on a deserted island? Ah, the things you could do with millions. But why limit yourself to just daydreaming? You can do something about it and take one step closer to be a millionaire. All you have to do is choose six from one to 45 and voila! You could very well be the next Colombia Lotto winner!

The thing to remember when playing the Colombia Lotto is balance. What does that mean? Take for example the number of odd and even numbers you choose in your combination. Try to maintain a three is to three ratio of odd and even numbers. If you cannot do that, try a two is to four or a four is to two ratio. This simply means that three odd and three even numbers in your combination stand a better chance of being drawn than all odd or all even numbers.

Another way you can maintain balance is by taking all your numbers and halving them into lower and upper numbers. Since there are 45 numbers to choose from in the Colombia Lotto, numbers one to 22 are part of your lower numbers and 23 to 45 are part of your upper numbers. The possibility of purely lower numbers or purely upper being drawn is at a mere one percent. So, maintain some balance by having three lower numbers and three uppers in your combination. As with the odd and even, if you cannot have equal sets, go with a two is to four or four is to two ratio of upper and lower numbers.

This third technique is the simplest of them all. Once you have chosen your six numbers, add them all together. If the total falls anywhere between 106 and 170, there is a higher possibility of your combination being a winning one since 70 percent of the winning combination are higher totals of the six drawn numbers.

If you combine the three techniques mentioned, they are pretty much just about simple math and balance. Have an equal or nearly equal number of odd and even while making sure that you maintain an equal or nearly equal number of lower and upper. Add all six elections and try to keep the total high.

Winning the lotto is not just about luck or chance. There are ways and means to tilt the odds in your favor. You do not need to be a math genius in order to follow the three techniques here. Who would have ever thought that becoming a millionaire was as simple as being aware of you choose and maintaining your focus on the unique opportunity of changing the rest of your life with just six?

About the Author

Ready to get the winning numbers for the Oklahoma Cash 5? Get our FREE Lottery secrets and tips on how to win the jackpot at http://www.LotteryDominator.com

How can i apply for a colombia work visa?

Im 20 and i live in corpus christi texas. I want to go work in Colombia this summer how can i get a visa to work there.Also any tips on how to get a job and everything with it??

/ Below are the Colombia Work VIsa requirements...

Colombia Jobs

Herbalife Business Opportunity For Colombia

Colombia: a Service Delivery Destination to have on your radar

Latin America is rapidly becoming a promising alternative offshoring destination.  Up until now India, China and the Philippines have been in the limelight but as these markets are reaching maturity, Latin American is become a viable alternative option with a wealth of choice for  companies choosing to move their operations offshore. Even though the region is well explored with the likes of Accenture, IBM, Capgemini etc having a presence in various countries here, there are still well kept secrets, like Colombia.

 

Over the last few decades negative publicity about guerrilla, drug cartels and high crime rates has slowed down investments from corporate companies in the country and has been limited and has impacted on its ranking as a service delivery location. However, during Alvaro Uribe’s presidential period, security and crime rates have improved significantly. Today, countries such as Brazil and Mexico are ranked even more dangerous and risky destinations. This has allowed Colombia to get back in business and has contributed to a positive development in the country’s economy and political stability.

 

  

• In 2009, Bogotá was ranked by AméricaEconomia magazine as the 6th (out of 50) top cities to do business in Latin America
• Doing Business 2009 ranked Colombia as the 2nd best “Business Friendly” in Latin America (Chile being the first).
• Foreign investments has increased by 400% since 2002 and Banco de La República registered the highest record of foreign investment in 2008 (US$ 10,564 millions).
• During the last 5 year the economy has grown over 4% every year.
• Business week rated in 2007 Colombia as the most extreme merging market
• Merril Lynch  ranked Colombia in 2008 as “Country with the lowest risk in the world in times of crisis”

 

 

Outsourcing market in Colombia

 

So what about Outsourcing in Colombia? In the last few years outsourcing has seen a huge development and now plays an important role in the country’s economy, obtaining significant revenue figures. The sector has grown 42% in BPO and just over 12% in IT services in the last three years. BPO services achieved revenues of US$ 430 million in 2004 and IT services reached revenue of US$ 650 millions in 2004 (almost doubled compared to 2003) and projection made by Business Software Alliance (BSA) predicts revenues of US$ 1,153 millions in 2009.

 

Well known global BPO service providers such as IBM, EDS and Accenture, have already placed operations in Colombia. Also European suppliers, such Transcom Emerigia and Unísono, have entered the market. Unísono alone invested in 2008 US$ 3 million in setting up a free trade zone in Bogotá where they provide BPO, telemarketing and consultancy services. But not only the big players play an important role in the Colombian market, also a wide variety of local suppliers such as InterSoft, Gattaca, Colgrabar, among others, are growing within the sector and are highly qualified to deliver outsourcing services.         

 

What does Colombia have to offer?

 

Colombia is geographically well located, allowing easy and fast access to US based customers and to other Latin American countries. Similar time zones to the US also provides great advantages in managing and monitoring operations. Some of the key advantages are listed below:

 

Costs: Colombia offers a significant cost reduction to European and US based companies. As shown in the table below, in terms of labour savings just behind Argentina, Colombia is the location with the most favourable cost benefits in the region. A BPO/call centre agent costs on average US$ 447/month (5.292 US$/year) and IT service and development agent an average of US$ 11.500/year. Other key cost such as real estate and communications are nearly the lowest compare to other main locations within the region. Also the privatization of utilities companies has allowed a significant cost reduction and an increase in the quality of the services.

           

Average Building rent prices US$/m2                                  

 

 

Source: Colliers International

Average Utilities Cost by city for a family of 4

Source: EIU Worldwide Cost of Living Survey, Ministerio de Minas y Energía; Comisión para la Integración Eléctrica Regional

 

Table summarises overall cost compared to main locations in the region.

 

1=less expensive; 6= most expensive

 

Inflation is another benefit Colombia offers. Inflation is a key factor in the projection of cost in your business case. Colombia, unlike other offshoring locations in places such as Asia, has managed to control inflation and additional control mechanisms were put in place in 1999 to ensure there is no big fluctuation in the indicator. This allows having a more realistic cost estimate in the long term.

 

Cultural Similarity: North America has a history of strongly influenced countries in Latin America, which gives them plenty of cultural similarities. Additionally, a high number of Colombians migrated to US and European countries to acquire higher educational degrees and job opportunities.  They travelled to these countries to avoid the local economic crisis and high unemployment rates the country suffered in the late 90’s. Many have now returned and have brought with them not only greater skills and experience, but some of the cultural similarities that play a key factor on business relationships. These cultural similarities help improve the business strategy and communication between the retained organization and the outsourcer.

 

Talent pool: With a total population of 45 million, Colombia has 18 million people with an average age of 27 years, the largest after Brazil and Mexico. According to the World Competitiveness Report (2005), they have the second best skilled group in mathematics and science education. This makes Colombia popular and full of potential for the IT sector and has allowed it to grow in the software market up to the point of becoming one of the largest sectors in Latin America. It has over 3000 software development companies and has an average of 17,000 professional graduates a year in technology and engineering. There are many universities within the main cities and the constant economic crisis Colombia has suffered over the last decades has made the working market extremely competitive. Professional graduates are getting masters and post graduates degrees just after completing their college courses just to maintain their competitive position within their sector. This has not only improved the labour skills, but has made universities and other education facilities to invest in new and high quality programmes. Today, Colombia has 26 schools registered in SAT “Resourcing Test” which allows them to enter universities in the US, 19 schools that provides graduates with International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) that allows access to the best universities world wide and 3 universities ranked in the top 30 universities in Latin America.

 

In terms of language skills, Colombia holds a good level of English speakers and posses a neutral accent that allows them to assimilate other Spanish accents, ideal for call centre services.

 

Government support: President Alvaro Uribe announced last May in VI Congreso Andino de Call Centers, Contact Centers y CRM, held in Bogotá, that Colombian government is working to encourage further development of BPO and ITO services in the country.  They recognise this will provide a strategic approach to deal with the impact of the global financial crisis. Even though the Government’s support specific to the BPO/ITO sector is not very clear yet, is something to keep an eye open for. However, today there are already several investments incentives in place that are bringing the attention of foreign investors, such as:

¨        Free trade zones with 50% off Income Tax and sales to the local market.

¨        Tax incentives to encourage investments in IT, through law 788 of 2002. This law establishes a 10-year income tax exemption to companies that invest in software development with high Colombian content, made and patented in the country.

¨        3 to 20 years Legal Stability Contracts with the Colombian Government for investments staring at US$1,5 millions.

¨        Income Tax Deductible Expenses (100% of the amount paid for industry and commerce, signs and billboards, and property taxes during the fiscal year, as long as these are directly related to the taxpayer’s economic activity; 25% of the tax paid on financial transactions may be deducted, regardless of their relationship to the taxpayer’s economic activity, others...)

 

Conclusion

As Latin America continues to grow in provision of offshoring and nearshoring services, the need to further explore its different locations is a “must do” when building your sourcing strategy. Considering the number of local and foreign BPO suppliers operating in Colombia and the significant growth the sector has had in the last couple of years, clearly shows how the country is gaining the confidence of foreign companies not only to invest in setting their operational centres but  in having their services delivered here by third party suppliers. With a good combination of low cost, talent pool and government support, Colombia shows a promising future as a service delivery location.

About the Author

Juan Díaz is a Senior Consultant with Alsbridge plc, the award winning advisory firm on shared services and outsourcing. Juan can be contacted at [email protected] or +44 (0) 20 7242 0666

Colombia Jobs