Narayan AmmachchiBrazil rose four places to reach the fifth position on AT Kearney’s 2021 Global Services Location Index (GSLI), with Sao Paulo winning the title of “Latin America’s digital hub”.
As many as 11 Latin American countries have won a place on the 60-country index. The latest Latin American addition to the index is Paraguay, which was ranked 56th.
Brazil’s jump is largely attributed to São Paolo’s growing stature as the region’s technology capital. The Brazilian city, according to the report, attracted more tech start-up investment than Chile, Colombia, Argentina, and Mexico combined.
In the past two years, there has also been a significant improvement in the availability of skilled workers in Brazil, and even the business climate is improving, the report added.
On the index, Mexico, Colombia, and Chile have taken 11th, 13th, and 24th place, respectively.
Some countries, including 54th placed Panama and 44th placed Argentina, were adversely affected by the recent debt-related downgrades to their political and business ratings.
Trinidad and Tobago slid nine places to number 55, the country’s sharpest decrease ever since it began appearing on the index. The poor showing was largely due to the sudden increase in the cost of labor, says the report.
Most of the major economies of the region have managed to retain their ranking on the index, with Costa Rica and Uruguay ranked 48th and 47th respectively.
However, when it comes to digital resonance, most LatAm nations perform poorly. This category takes into consideration the digital skills of the labor force, legal adaptability – meaning the extent to which the legal framework takes digital business models into account, including cybersecurity protections – and the amount of corporate activity, defined as the amount of capital invested in startups and the number of deals by venture capitals in 2020.
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