Chile Gets Serious About Taking the Road Less Traveled
June 2nd, 2011By Kirk Laughlin
Pennycook of CORFO
Chile is starting to talk more openly about its future plans to – in essence – establish and live in an entirely new category among Latin America sourcing and services destination. That category is partly reflective of the requirements of a rising tide of multinational firms – from mining to biotech – that are continuing to set up shop in Chile and also aligns well with the steady output of engineering-schooled professionals. But does the country’s relatively small population (around 18 million) and highly-desirable qualities suggest that precious human capital resources will get snapped up before this new category effort fully matures?
Until recently, most of the Latin Americas’ contact center outsourcing markets were considered cost-convenient for establishing offshore business. However, the overall global economic slowdown, offshore outsourcing and aggressive cost-cutting pressures demanded by clients are hitting revenue growth rates in the short-to-medium term.
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (contactcenter.frost.com), Argentinean and Chilean Contact Center Outsourcing Services Markets 2010, finds that the Argentinean market earned revenues of $627.1 million in 2009 and estimates this to reach $1,027.7 million in 2015. The Chilean market earned revenues of $290.9 million in 2009 and estimates this to reach $494.4 million in 2015.
“Issues like high inflation, rising wages, and lack of government support are damaging the competitiveness of Argentina so further expansion in offshore business is unlikely in the short term,” says Frost & Sullivan Industry Manager Juan Gonzalez. “This has caused concerns regarding the market’s prospects for 2011 among the companies.”
Nevertheless, Argentina’s …
Is CORFO Stuck in Neutral?
May 4th, 2011
As Nicolo Giglo of CORFO packs up to head back to Chile, more questions arise about whether Chile’s main export promotion group is fading into the background.
By Kirk Laughlin
In the last week Nearshore Americas has learned that Nicolo Gligo, the well known and well liked Executive Director, USA, of InvestChile-CORFO will soon surrender his position and return back home to Chile from his current based in Southern California. Gligo, who placed in the top twenty in our 2010 Power Rankings, and one of the most skilled export promotion executives in the Nearshoring industry, intends to launch a consultancy.
The departure of Gligo seems to come at a time when CORFO is at a low ebb in terms of its visibility in the US market. There is increasing belief that CORFO was a more formidable organization in the US in previous years – and during the last two years there is some evidence of indecision and a lack of a more cohesive go-to-market strategy.
New Survey Shows Global Outsourcers Think Chile Is a Safe Investment
April 27th, 2011NEW YORK CITY — Nearshore Americas, a specialized provider of news and content about the fastest-growing outsourcing market, Latin America, has just released research results that showed Chile’s strong emergence as a destination for outsourcing services. The research is released in conjunction with the premiere of Nearshore Nexus, the first large-scale industry conference and exhibition that examines knowledge-services outsourcing to Latin America.
From populist uprisings in Libya and Egypt to authoritative crackdowns in China, overseas markets have recently experienced a profound level of geopolitical disruption. US business leaders are consequently re-assessing their outsourcing portfolios to prioritize those markets that offer more stability.
In a survey of 266 outsourcing decision-makers across the Americas, Nearshore Americas found that Chile is considered a uniquely stable market for outsourcing. Civil unrest or violence in Chile was rated as a Very Low to Low concern by 80 percent of …
Start-Up Chile Selects 110 Start-Ups for ‘Bootstrap’ Program
April 27th, 2011SANTIAGO, Chile – After receiving 329 applications during the one-month application period, Start-Up Chile announces that 110 start-up companies have been selected to participate in this year’s first round of the prestigious and world-recognized program. The goal is to select 300 start-ups by the end of the year. The list of selected companies is here.
Slated to arrive in June and July of 2011, the 110 chosen startups hail from 28 different countries representing a myriad of industries and many of the best educational institutions in the world including Harvard, MIT, Wharton, the London School of Economics, and Stanford. With the majority of the teams falling into the E-commerce & Trade and the Enterprise Software & IT sectors, there are seven Social/NGO startups, five Biotech companies, and four Energy & Cleantech projects, among others.
Each participant passed through a series of rigorous evaluations conducted by venture …
Groundbreaking study reveals Latin America’s image trends upward
Chile gains top honors for attractive business climate.
Negative perceptions of personal safety in Latin America are widespread, but they are often based on outdated or incomplete information. Executives investigating outsourcing locations typically evaluate destinations on metrics such as costs and incentives. When they do consider geopolitical and personal risks, they frequently rely on inaccurate or incomplete data—or media-generated generalizations.
A new study – authored exclusively by Nearshore Americas and available for free download in our Premium Reports section - reveals a number of surprising shifts around views on personal safety. The report investigates the attitudes members of the sourcing community have toward Latin America, and measure the extent personal safety concerns affect buyers’ decisions to invest in countries in the region. The report is intended to serve as a tool for buy-side clients, analysts, and promotion agencies, and strives to delivery objective input into this highly complex issue.
Image Matters: The Latin America Perception Shift
April 24th, 2011log in or Register to Download the WhitePaper ( - PDF )
By the editors at Nearshore Americas
Enterprises are re-assessing their outsourcing portfolios, and looking for locations that offer them more stability and minimal risk. When examining geopolitical risk, business decision-makers do so with partial information, rather than accurate assessments of the situation on the ground. Especially when it comes to the Latin American region, outdated safety attitudes and perceptions are widespread.
This new study by Nearshore Americas is aimed at addressing this information gap. We found out what the relative perceptions are of different Latin American countries, and to what extent personal safety concerns impact buyers’ decisions to invest in those countries. This report is intended to be tool for buy-side clients, industry analysts and country promotion agencies interested in comparing the real Latin American safety situation with what is being perceived in the market at large.
Chile Bets on its Entrepreneurs, but Will it Pay Off?
April 21st, 2011
By Josette Rigsby
Entrepreneurship is experiencing a surge of support in Chile. Traditionally, the environment has been very risk averse, and not conducive to the volatility of entrepreneurship. My, how times have changed. Chile has dedicated itself to becoming the innovation and entrepreneurial hub of Latin America, and based on all of the activity since 2010, they just might pull it off.
The Chilean Government’s Ministry of Economy created Start-Up Chile to attract foreign entrepreneurs to the country and spur on the domestic entrepreneurial spirit. The program offers the fledgling foreign companies a $40 million grant to participate for six-months, a one-year Visa and access to mentorship and resources to aid in developing their concept.
Evalueserve CEO: Banks and Finance Want More Data Analytics and are Willing to Pay for It
March 29th, 2011
EVS has "27 nationalities represented" in Chile delivery center.
By Tarun George
What value can Latin America offer the Knowledge Process Outsourcing industry?
That’s what we asked Alok Aggarwal, CEO of research firm Evalueserve, which provides KPO services from its delivery center in Valparaiso, Chile. He tells us here about what KPO clients are looking for in Latin America, how global services are changing with the US economy, and the pros and cons of Chilean sourcing.
SANTIAGO, CHILE — Chilean IT companies announced US$3.5 billion in IT revenue in 2010, an 18.5 percent growth over the previous year and 1.7 percent of the total economy. The Chilean government continues to invest in IT as part of its plan to grow the overall economy and bring outside technology companies to the region. The country is also committed to increasing its services to other countries, particularly the U.S., through government-backed organizations like ProChile, Corfo, Start-Up Chile and Chile-IT. Additionally, Chile’s IT expertise continues to grow through its IT university graduates and workforce, cultivating high-tech education throughout Chile.
“The Chilean infrastructure has strengthened exponentially since last year — the economy is strong, and we are more and more being recognized as a leader in the global market,” said Carlos Fernandez, CEO of Chile-IT. “With cultural similarities to the U.S., time-zone capability and a tech-savvy demographic, …
