Technology Leaders in Latin America

All around the world technology remains a key component of business success and innovation. Places like India, China, and the United States are well known for their innovation and technological development. However, Latin America happens to be one of the fastest-growing technology markets in the world. With Brazil being one of the largest economies in Latin America, many people may assume Brazil is leading the way in technology. Yet, this is not the case. This past year Panama replaced Uruguay as Latin America’s technology leader.

Panama has high ambitions to remain Latin America’s technology leader by expanding Internet use and attracting foreign companies to transform Panama City into a logistics hub. Government support has been one of the main reasons Panama has been able to these attract large corporations. More than 60 corporations, including Dell and 3M, have shifted their regional headquarters to Panama since a tax exemption law was passed in 2007. The government has also eased requirements for business start-ups. This has allowed the registration of approximately 35,000 business entities online. Many of these businesses are bringing technology development to Panama and also demand a faster Internet. Because of this, Internet usage was up 43 percent from last year and Internet access is now being implemented in schools across the country.

Latin America is committed to technological development and many countries like Panama are implementing policies to support this growth. Internet growth is also being driven by multinational corporations and small start-up businesses. Moving forward, it will be interesting to see the impacts of technological advancements in Latin American countries on global business operations.