"Ten years ago was also the unlikely start to one of the great success stories in developing-markets history. That's when a Marxist guerrilla group was at the gates of Bogot, firing shells into the Colombian capital. But the new government and rule of law ultimately prevailed, and foreign direct investment slowly returnedthen exploded as a normalcy took hold. Colombia's stock market has since surged twelvefold. Its Medelln-listed companies are the envy of Latin American investment bankers, and it enjoys affordable debt terms thanks to its investment-grade credit rating. Within a short decade, Colombia has gone from near-failed state to frontier curiosity to thrivingofficialemerging market." ~ Business Week, September 20, 2012

Based on this excerpt, __________________ was the key factor that turned things around for this economy.

Select one:

a. the strong stock market

b. foreign direct investment

c. attaining investment-grade sovereign credit rating

d. establishing the rule of law