Chile Leads Technology Ranking in Latin America
05/11/05

According to a report by World Economic Forum (WEF), Chile leads all other Latin American countries in the development of information and communication technologies.

Among the 104 countries studied, Chile ranked 35th, far outdistancing European countries like Greece and Italy. Brazil, ranked 46th, was the second highest Latin American nation in the ranking. Singapore leads the list.

Among the factors that the WEF assessed were the quality of education in math and science, the cost of telephone connections, Internet access and the governments' priorities for the development of information and communications technologies.

"With the exception of Chile, Latin America is behind most other nations in the race to transform the information and communication technologies into a powerful engine that increases competition," said the WEF.

Despite the good news, Chile fell three positions compared to last year's report, showing there is a lot more to do.

Alfredo Piquer, president of the National Association of Information Technology Companies (ACTI), said the fall of three positions is not a worrying situation, but showcases the need to move forward. The ACTI estimates a 5 percent sales increase for this year.

"We hope to grow in sync with the country's growth, which is very good, because in previous years we have fallen below it," Piquer said.

Chile's technological sector in 2004 increased its sales 3.5 percent reaching US$1.062 billion. Even though this figure was slightly higher than what had been projected, it is almost the same as eight years ago.

One of the main problems facing the industry is the low investment in technology made by Chilean companies.