Luis Guillermo Plata Paez

Luis Guillermo Plata has been the Colombian Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism for the past three-and-a-half years. During his tenure, he has spearheaded the internationalization of the Colombian economy, the creation of a transformative production policy, and the promotion of Colombia as a world-class international tourist destination.

This former entrepreneur and Harvard MBA’s greatest ambition is to contribute to the economic growth of Colombia, aimed at uprooting poverty quickly and effectively.

His years spent in Japan, China and Taiwan where he worked in the promotion of Colombia, along with his time in the United States as an entrepreneur, and his experience as a consultant for McKinsey & Company, gave him the vision to initiate and structure the government-led agenda to sell Colombia as an optimal destination for business, investment, and travel. As part of this plan, Minister Plata has been the architect of the nation branding campaign “Colombia is passion”, which seeks to correct the discrepancy that exists between the international perception of Colombia and the reality of the country.

Before becoming Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Luis Guillermo Plata was president of Proexport, the Colombian entity that promotes exports, investment and tourism. In a post that handles the convergence of three different areas, he began a successful initiative that has led Colombia to double both its exports and the annual amount of international tourists, as well as significantly increasing the amount of foreign investment received by the country.

Under his leadership Colombia has re-emerged on the radar of the global tourism industry.

Minister Plata, one of the youngest members of the Colombian Cabinet, has received both national and international recognition. The World Economic Forum selected him as one of the Young Global Leaders and he also received the highest possible international recognition from the YPO organization as an effective leader. For three consecutive years, he has been elected as one of the top business leaders of Colombia and, for the entirety of his duration as minister, has maintained his position as one of the top two members of President Uribe’s Cabinet.

Minister Plata is married and has one son.