Senator Says US Must Ratify Free Trade With Panama and Colombia, or Risk Losing More Jobs
February 9th, 2011The top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said failure to ratify free-trade accords with key allies Panama and Colombia would further cede market share to countries including China, costing U.S. jobs.
In a letter to congressional colleagues, Senator Richard Lugar said the U.S. is losing its place as the “preferred and logical trading partner” for South America. Canada, which signed its own free trade accord with Colombia last year, could soon replace the U.S. as the country’s main supplier of wheat and machinery, the Indiana Republican added. Unilateral trade preferences for Colombia expire this month.
“The FTAs are increasingly considered by Panamanians and Colombians as a crucible in the bilateral relationships,” Lugar said in the letter dated Feb. 8, which followed a trip by a staff member to both countries. “They serve as a symbolic litmus test …
Latin America Startups: How Three Sourcing Entrepreneurs Crossed the Chasm
January 27th, 2011
Cesar Gon of Ci&T: “We had to be profitable or we wouldn’t survive"
By Tarun George
Ever since our Red Hot Startups contest last year, Nearshore Americas has kept a close eye on the gradual increase of tech innovation coming out of Latin America. Unlike Silicon Valley – where angel investors, tech talent and other vital ingredients to nurture startups are abundantly available - Latin America is not widely known as a paradise for tech entrepreneurs. (Just ask Oscar Arias who recently condemned the region for failing to stimulate an entrepreneurial environment.)
But there is no doubt that there are lots of success stories about company founders finding the courage and capital to turn their vision into reality. We selected three founders of IT/call center outsourcing firms – in Argentina, Colombia and Brazil – to find out how they crossed the infamous ‘chasm’ between failure and prosperity.
Colombia President: US and Europe Have “Forgotten” Latin America
January 24th, 2011The United States and Europe have forgotten about Latin America, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said in an interview with French newspaper Le Monde Saturday.
The Colombian president is set to travel to France to meet with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy and to lobby a Colombian membership to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Using the words of Brazil’s former President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, Santos told Le Monde that “Barack Obama has forgotten about Latin America,” adding to this: “Europe too.”
Santos wants to use his meeting with Sarkozy to “talk about education, trade, investment and technology transfer,” to give body to the bilateral ties that for a long time were dominated by the captivity of French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt.
The Colombian president told France’s leading newspaper that Europe should get more involved in the …
The New Colombia + Zemoga = Digital El Niño
January 20th, 2011DJ Edgerton, co-founder and CEO of Zemoga, talks about the innovative fire coming out of Bogota.
Colombia and Peru Show Up on Gartner’s Top Location List for the First Time
December 20th, 2010By Kirk Laughlin
Colombia and Peru – once considered second-class destinations on the Latin American offshore outsourcing landscape –have both landed on one of the more respected rankings of global services locations which effectively seals their ascent to worldwide BPO respectability.
We know it can get a bit dizzying keeping up with the assorted ‘best of’ lists in global offshore services, but the Gartner ranking is backed up by sound methodology that relies on a host of data sources as well as qualitative input from the firm’s domain-expert analysts. Colombia and Peru join perennial favorites on the 2011-2012 list, announced today: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica and Mexico. The eighth Nearshore country is Panama, which re-enters from previous years.
Read on to hear what lead Gartner analyst Ian Marriott from told us about why Colombia and Peru made the final cut.
The 2010 Nearshore Americas Red Hot Startups
November 2nd, 2010
By Tarun George
What companies are set to disrupt the traditional Nearshore sourcing landscape? Who are the upstarts that are hitting the market hard with solid business models and paradigm-shifting services? Two months ago, we decided to find out.
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The Winners:
Junar (Chile)
Zauber (Argentina)
MarCom Logix (Mexico)
eTask (Colombia)
SunSource America (Argentina)
Unosquare (Mexico)
Nearshore Americas presents the results of our first annual Red Hot Startups program, focused on identifying the six most innovative and well-managed startups across Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada.
We looked for companies that have compelling features in the areas of global sourcing, software design, IT innovation, e-commerce or mobile/web applications and services. But in today’s competitive market landscape, that’s not enough. Our selection team chose startups that have a value proposition not just in benefits …
Colombia: Understanding the Nation’s Passion for Outsourcing
September 28th, 2010
Special Guest Post: By Atul Vashistha, Chairmain and CEO, Neo Advisory
“Colombia is Passion” is the brand the Colombian government at the helm at pro-export chose to brand the nation. What one soon discovers in this beautiful country of beautiful people is a passion for business, music and family. One also soon realizes that a passion for outsourcing already exists here too!
Colombia is a rising star in Latin America. Once perceived to be unsafe, the country has, over the last decade, transformed itself as one of the best locations to do business in Latin America, ranking higher by the World Bank in 2010, than countries such as Peru, Panama, Brazil, Chile and Mexico.
Quick Hits: Colombia Becomes ‘Haven of Stability’, Client Grievances and Brazil Blast
September 17th, 2010Gartner Outsourcing/ Vendor Management Show Wrap
Much of the new BPO investment is targeted toward Bogota, but Medellin and other cities are also seeing growth.
Several sources confirmed during the Gartner conference that Genpact and Sutherland (a mid-tier global BPO operator) will soon be announcing plans to set up delivery centers in Colombia. Genpact has been one of the most active providers in the region over the last few years and the firm’s wheels seem to be turning even faster this year. Its Guatemala City presence is in the process of expanding, and the move into Colombia – mentioned as a possibility by Guatemala Country Manager Nitin Bhat during a Nearshore Americas interview in July – seems to reflect careful consideration of how to service both domestic and international clients. (Genpact also maintains facilities in two Mexico cities – Juarez and Caborca).
The recent news that HP will locate a Global Service Center in Medellin was just one of a series of indications that the country is also on the map of tier one players.
We heard no reports indicating that Genpact will scale back or close the Juarez (smack on the U.S. – Mexican border and virtually ground zero in the Mexican government’s battle to quell narco-violence) or Caborca, which is about one hundred miles south of the boundary with Arizona.
Zemoga Wins Recognition as One of the Fastest Growing Firms in the U.S.
August 25th, 2010NEW YORK, Aug. 25 /PRNewswire/ — Award-winning digital innovation firm Zemoga announced today that it has been named to the 2010 INC. magazine ranking of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the United States for the second consecutive year. Over the past three years, Zemoga has amassed an impressive 485% cumulative revenue growth record.
Debuting in 2008 as a companion to the well-known INC. 500 listing, the INC. 5000 is the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy—America’s independent-minded entrepreneurs. Taken as a whole, the companies on the list represent the backbone of the U.S. economy.
Zemoga moved up to #619 in the 2010 rankings from its #646 position in 2009. Last year, the company also …
Latin America ICT: Ranking the Top Five Telecom Markets
August 18th, 2010Chile Claims Top Spot Based on Advanced Infrastructure
By Tarun George
Over the next five years, LatAm wireless network traffic is slated to rise at a CAGR of 86% – pretty significant compared to the 61% CAGR average for emerging markets as a whole. And yet Latin America is still a relatively small telecom services market. Despite advances in information and communication technologies (ICT), there are large discrepancies between countries – some with modernized and liberal telecom networks, and others with closed and politicized systems in place. If you’re a prospective sourcing client, those discrepancies can make or break your operation.
To clear the air, we decided to leverage some expert opinion and develop our 2010 Ranking of the Top Five Telecom-Ready Sourcing Destinations in Latin America.
