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, and Peru, as well as Puerto Rico in the Caribbean, 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.
Private Equity Seizes on the Great Potential of Latin America
November 28th, 2011
Muruzabal, CEO at Neoris
By Dan Berthiaume
Impressively fast growth in the Latin American IT services market is drawing interest from both local and global private equity investors. Claudio Muruzabal, CEO of global business/IT consulting firm Neoris, says this trend will likely accelerate in the near future. “Depending on which statistics you look at, the Latin American IT services market is growing at twice the speed of the global IT services market,” said Muruzabal. “Per se, it is a bigger opportunity in terms of growth.”
Brazil Races Past India in Attracting Foreign Investment
October 24th, 2011
By Filipe Pacheco
Despite a slowdown in foreign direct investment in most other markets, Brazil has managed to maintain a steady stream of funding from international interests. The country received about US$33 billion in the first half of 2011, according to new data compiled by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. That puts the country on track with investments it received in 2010, when FDI tripled to US$36 billion.
COUNTRY PROFILE: Ecuador Strives for a Role in Global Software
August 2nd, 2011
The country’s young tech sector is growing, but high attrition and lack of English proficiency remain key obstacles
By Sarah Biggerstaff
Ecuador may not be the first country that comes to mind when considering global outsourcing destinations. However, in recent years Quito, the nation’s capital with a population of 2 million people, has begun to make a name for itself in the global market.
NEW YORK – Genpact Limited, a global leader in business process and technology management, today announced the opening of operations in Brazil, its first location in South America. Located in São Paulo, Genpact is now providing services for Astra Zeneca, with plans to serve additional global corporations for their Brazilian businesses as well as establish business operations for the burgeoning Brazil-to-Brazil market.
Genpact has begun providing finance and accounting (F&A) services to Astra Zeneca from this center and is also providing IT services to a financial services client. Genpact is aggressively training and recruiting for additional employees so that it can continue to grow its broad portfolio of business process management services from this location. In line with its strategy in all global locations where it operates, Genpact will rely on local leadership hires to lead its growth and staff client projects, thus creating jobs in the surrounding community.
In conjunction …
Registration Opens for Nicaragua’s Premier Investment Forum
July 20th, 2011PRONicaragua recently announced the organization of the premier investment forum titled Nicaragua, Let’s Grow Together!, which will showcase the country’s sustainable growth in various economic sectors and its competitive advantages as an attractive destination for foreign direct investment (FDI).
The event will take place on August 16th and 17th in Managua, Nicaragua, and will focus on specialized sectors such as apparel, footwear, food processing and manufacturing, as well as world-class bilingual business process outsourcing services. Participants will be coming from various countries in Asia, Europe, North, Central and South America.
Some of the topics that will be discussed during this year’s edition include an overview of Nicaragua’s industrial sector, market access, investment incentives, offshoring guidelines, latest industry trends and the country’s most profitable investment opportunities. The program will also include networking activities as well as site visits to successful and leading foreign investment projects operating in the country.
“Nicaragua’s …
Chile to Invest $2.7 Billion to Extend Santiago Subway
July 14th, 2011SANTIAGO — The Chilean government will invest $2.76 billion to expand Santiago’s Metro subway system, President Sebastian Pinera said Wednesday. The investment will add two new lines to the network, extending it to 140 kilometers and 136 stations. One of the two new lines will be operating in 2016 and the other one in 2017, Pinera said.
Pinera added that Corfo, the government development agency, will finance $500 million and that government-held subway operator Metro SA will contribute $900 million.
In 2009, the administration of Michelle Bachelet disclosed a $900 million expansion that will be ready in 2014. About one-third of Chile’s 17 million inhabitants live in the capital. Some 2.5 million passengers ride every day on Santiago’s subway system, which began operating in 1975.
Economists Raise Brazil 2011 Inflation Forecast
July 11th, 2011Economists covering the Brazilian economy raised their 2011 inflation forecast for the first time in 10 weeks after prices rose faster than expected in June.
Consumer prices will rise 6.31 percent this year, according to the median forecast in a July 8 central bank survey of about 100 economists published today. The figure was up from 6.15 percent the previous week.
Economists also raised their prediction for 2012 inflation. Prices, as measured by the IPCA index, will rise 5.20 percent next year, the survey found, compared with a forecast of 5.10 percent the previous week. The June inflation number increased doubts that the central bank will hit its targets, said Pedro Tuesta, a Washington-based economist for Latin America at 4Cast Inc.
“The market has started to talk about how the central bank isn’t going to make it,” Tuesta said in a telephone interview. “More and more people are thinking that …
Startup Talent Arrives in Chile as Part of Innovation Plan
July 8th, 2011The latest round of start-up specialists has started arriving in Chile, as part of the country’s plan to turn Chile into a center of entrepreneurship and innovation in Latin America. The goal is to attract young technical talent and entrepreneurs to the Start-Up Chile program and increase foreign investment through the umbrella organization InvestChile.
“We want Chile to be like the Singapore of Latin America, a place where investors want to do business,” explained CEO of Corfo InvestChile, Juan Antonio Figueroa, during a conference organized by Fundación Imagen de Chile.
To achieve this objective, he announced, they will soon open four new offices in the United States (New York), Germany, Brazil, and France. The agency already has offices in Spain, Italy, India, and China, which will provide expert advice.
The target proposed by InvestChile for 2011 is $155 billion of foreign direct investment, as well as hopes to capture new …
Investor’s Opinion: Mercadolibre, the eBay of Latin America
July 8th, 2011When investors usually think of emerging market technology stocks, Latin America does not come to mind. However, the past and continuing performance of Argentina-based Mercadolibre (MELI) may change that.
Mercadolibre (Spanish for Free Market) is a tech company that runs the leading e-commerce website in Latin America. The company’s business model resembles eBay (EBAY) as it operates auctions and classified sales on its website while earning money through commissions and transaction fees. Mercadolibre also operates an online payment service similar to Paypal to help facilitate online payments in the region.
Its geographical presence is widespread throughout Latin America and Portugal with its biggest markets being Brazil (26% of revenues) followed by Argentina, Venezuela and Mexico. Since the company bought out competitor Deremaste.com, Mercadolibre has gained a regional monopoly in the industry. Since it has a strong strategic partnership with eBay, which includes a non-competition agreement for Latin America, …
