MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Santiago, Latam second best city for business

According to The Economist business magazine, Sao Paulo, Brazil, has replaced Santiago de Chile as the best city to do business in Latin America.

Santiago, which now occupies second place, had finished in first place in both 2004 and 2005. The top five cities are rounded out by Monterrey in Mexico, Miami, and Curitiba, Brazil

The magazine studies various economic and quality of life indicators such as the potential for business innovation, overall quality of life, security, reputation, and cost of living. Apart from these indices, interviews of 1,500 business executives were also taken into account.

The comprehensive study illustrates Santiago's strengths and weaknesses. The city finished in first place in several categories such as the city with the most political stability and the best city to establish a centre of operations. The city also fared well in a wide range of fields such as public security, and quality of life.

However, the category of potential for business innovation, which was incorporated into the study just this year, proved to be a decisive factor for Santiago's fall to second place. While Santiago ranked as "Medium" for business innovation, Sao Paulo received "High" marks.

The high number of patents generated in Sao Paulo contributed to its strong placing. While the state of Sao Paulo produced almost 2,000 new industrial patents in 2005, the entire country of Chile produced a meagre 607.

Furthermore, when questioned about the best cities for the creation of new technologies, 23% of business executives preferred Sao Paulo, followed by the twenty-two percent who favoured Miami, and seventeen percent who favoured Santiago.

Tijuana in Mexico completed the top 25 ranking.

By Matt Malinowski The Santiago Times - News about Chile