Latin America ‘Weak’ Infrastructure Starts to Get a Major Facelift
February 3rd, 2012
Peru, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and Colombia drive forward with big projects
By Clayton Browne
Latin America has long been considered a laggard in terms of global infrastructure development, but that perception should be changing. Countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Peru, and Puerto Rico have all begun major long-term infrastructure projects ranging from roads to dams to telecommunications towers to airports. Infrastructure development in the areas of energy, transportation and telecommunications have seen the greatest recent growth, with estimates ranging as high as $450 billion, to be spent on infrastructure in the area between 2011 and 2015.
Billionaire Slim Criticizes OECD Report on Mexico’s Phone Industry
February 2nd, 2012Source: Business Week
Billionaire Carlos Slim was out of context and off the mark in his criticism of a study finding a lack of competition in Mexico’s phone industry, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said.
Slim told reporters yesterday that the group’s report, released earlier this week, seemed to use data “pulled out of thin air.” The 72-year-old, who controls Mexico’s largest wireless and landline-phone companies, denied the study’s claims that Mexican carriers overcharged consumers $13.4 billion a year for phone and Internet services from 2005 to 2009.
Mexico’s government, which commissioned the study, is using it to validate efforts to create more competition in telecommunications. The findings support the government’s plan to auction off fiber-optic lines owned by the state power company and contracts to push high-speed Internet into communities where it’s not available, Communications and Transportation Minister Dionisio Perez-Jacome said this week.
“The OECD stands by its …
Examine More Than Cost Savings When Judging the Nearshore
February 2nd, 2012By Patrick Haller
When making sourcing decisions, a lot of attention is paid to the pricing structure and qualifications of service providers, while their actual location is sometimes a secondary consideration. However, when assessing a destination, it’s important to realize that what might be favorable today can morph into a nightmare scenario tomorrow. Don’t be caught unaware and unprepared for the ever-changing dynamics of the Nearshore.
Brazil Living Costs Surpass US; Economist Warns of Risks
February 1st, 2012
São Paulo: Making Manhattan look cheap.
By Filipe Pacheco
High costs are one of the prices international companies must pay for doing business in Brazil– especially when it comes to the services industry. Now one of the most plugged-in financial institutions in the world, the International Monetary Fund, has released numbers that demonstrate what many suspected anyway: The cost of living in Brazil in 2011 rose to slightly higher than that of the United States.
Jamaica Reaches Out to Global Investors
January 31st, 2012Jamaica’s growing reputation as a top Caribbean destination for investment in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and other key growth sectors is set to take centre stage on March 1-2, 2012, as the island lays out the red carpet for investors seeking opportunities in the region’s largest English-speaking economy.
The Jamaica Investment Forum 2012, which will be staged at the new Montego Bay Convention Centre, will focus on the business opportunities that exist in ICT, as well as other priority areas such as Tourism, Manufacturing and major privatization and development projects.
The Prime Minister of Jamaica, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, will head a high profile slate of local and international speakers at the Forum, which is being organized by JAMPRO, the country’s investment promotion agency, in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Compete Caribbean Programme. The opening of the event will feature presentations from Anthony Hylton, the …
Cristina Fernandez is the Most Powerful President in Argentine History
January 31st, 2012Source: MercoPress
President Cristina Fernandez has more power than Juan Domingo Peron “ever had” and Peronism in Argentina is guarantee of governance, according to Carlos Corach a former Interior minister from the former President Carlos Menem administration and a respected solicitor and political analyst.
“Cristina Fernandez is probably the president which has enjoyed more power in the history of Argentina. I’d say even more, she has more power than what Peron had. Peron had to deal and negotiate with very strong corporations, and economic and political sectors”, said the former minister.
Corach added that Peron (the Army Colonel who was president from 1946/1952, re-elected in 1952 but ousted by a military coup in 1955, to return triumphantly in 1973) had to learn to live with the Armed Forces, a very powerful Catholic Church and an opposition that also had strong and charismatic leaders”.
“Currently the majority of those players don’t hold such …
Nearshore Agile Development Needs to Fix Major Flaw
January 31st, 2012
By Katy Demong
Companies that want to grow their bottom line while saving money by speeding software cycles are turning increasingly to Agile development. But how can companies combine the cost savings of Agile with the economies of Nearshore while protecting themselves from miscommunication and the mismanagement of time and resources?
Brazil Wrestles with How to Navigate New Era of Immigration
January 31st, 2012Source: CNN
The rise of Brazil as an economic force has brought with it a policy challenge familiar here in the United States: immigration.
Recently crowned the world’s sixth-largest economy, Brazil has become an immigration magnet, both to low-skilled workers –some of whom enter illegally — and high-skilled workers looking for opportunities in the country’s thriving sectors.
Brazil historically has been welcoming to immigrants, but the challenge now is more pronounced as the government seeks to accept foreigners while protecting its hard-won prosperity.
The country faces two simultaneous challenges: how to deal with recent illegal immigration, mostly from Haiti, and how to make it easier for highly educated immigrants to get work permits. A number of Brazilian ministries have either proposed or are deliberating policies as the country ushers in a new era of immigration.
“You cannot become the sixth economy in the world with impunity,” Defense Minister Celso Amorim, a former foreign …
Forget Arbitrage: Just Take Labor Out of the Cost Equation
January 30th, 2012
By Dan Berthiaume
Labor arbitrage, or the moving of jobs from more expensive to less expensive locations, has long been seen as one of the chief potential benefits of BPO. And while reducing the cost of labor by shifting it overseas certainly remains an appealing option for many BPO customers, with the assistance of technology the BPO model is starting to evolve to a point where, in many cases, labor can be removed from the equation entirely.
Brazil’s Inflation Forecast Cut
January 30th, 2012Source: MarketWatch
Financial market analysts and economists reduced their forecasts for Brazil’s inflation this year for the ninth consecutive week, a survey by the Central Bank of Brazil showed Monday.
Economists now expect the country’s inflation to average 5.28% this year, down slightly from a forecast of 5.29% a week earlier, according to the survey. The forecast is still above the central bank’s inflation target of 4.5% for the year.
Brazil’s inflation rate reached 6.50% last year, the highest since hitting 7.6% in 2004.
For 2013, respondents kept their inflation forecast at 5%.
The central bank’s weekly survey tracks the opinions of 100 analysts and economists and reports the average of their expectations.
The forecast for the central bank’s benchmark Selic interest rate at the end of 2012 remained at 9.50%, while the forecast for end-2013 was raised to 10.38% from 10.25%.
Respondents kept their estimate for Brazil’s 2012 gross domestic product growth at 3.27%. …
