Rural transformation: topic of interest at the XI High-Level Dialogue Colombia - United States

Bogotá D. C., (@UPRAColombia, @claudialili76). Led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luis Gilberto Murillo, and the Undersecretary of State for Management and Resources of the United States, Richard Verma, the XI High-Level Dialogue (HLD) between Colombia and the United States began, a space for encounter between the two countries to review topics focused on bilateral relations. 

 ​One issue addressed in this bilateral meeting concerns rural transformation, under thematic axes such as rural finance, rural economic opportunities, nature tourism, and land. 
 
Claudia Cortés, director of UPRA who participated in the different working sessions of the day, described the meeting as beneficial for the Colombian countryside. 
 
In the axis of Rural Finance, efforts are being made to improve financial inclusion for vulnerable/marginalized populations and increase access to rural productive financing; there will be continued implementation and progress in cooperation agendas, within the framework of the Finance for Equity Program, by USAID, to modernize the National Agricultural Credit System, and activate the Credit Subsystem - of the National Agrarian Reform and Rural Development System - in financial innovations for sustainability and in support of the implementation of the financial inclusion strategy for the popular economy. 
 
Regarding the axis of Economic Opportunities, the plan is to strengthen cooperation through bilateral work to implement the Agrarian Reform and Rural Development, in improved agricultural extension systems based on research and recommendations for these systems, including actions in terms of associative and commercial strengthening, through USAID programs, especially the Sustainable Agriculture program. 
 
In the Nature Tourism axis, efforts are aimed at strengthening the sustainability and competitiveness of this sector in Colombia and contributing to biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation, and adaptation; progress will be made in the implementation of the Sustainable Tourism Policy "United for Nature," the Sectoral Tourism Plan 2022-2026 "Tourism in Harmony with Life," and the "Tourism for a Culture of Peace" strategy, within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Tourism, and the Nature Destination Program, by USAID. 
 
For the Land thematic axis, cooperation is proposed through the continuity of USAID's provision of inputs to the National Land Agency for the adjudication or formalization of land, and to the Agustín Codazzi Geographic Institute for cadastral updating in order to contribute to the 2016 Peace Agreement and the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform of the Colombian Government. 
 
The High-Level Dialogue Colombia - United States is a demonstration of the bonds of friendship and cooperation that unite the Republic of Colombia and the United States of America.