Business Latin America

Since the economic crisis hit the world, businesses can no longer depend on markets like Asia, Europe and United States for growth. They need to look for new, emergent markets to increase their sales. Now, more than ever, the spotlight is on Latin America and the Caribbean.

General Information about Latin America

Latin America is located directly south to the United States of America. The countries that make up this region are: Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Venezuela, Guatemala, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Cuba, Uruguay, El Salvador, Paraguay, Bolivia, Panama, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guyana, Suriname, Netherlands Antilles and Belize.

The population is approximately 569 million people. The languages that are spoken is Spanish and Portuguese is the official language in Brazil. The business community generally speaks English. You also have countries that speak French and Dutch.

How to start doing business in Latin America?

1. Contact embassies and consulates

They can supply you with a wealth of information and statistics so you can carefully analyze the threats and opportunities that a particular country represents.

2. Contacting the local chamber of commerce

A chambers of commerce is a local network business people working toward increasing their opportunities. They do this by voting for a board of directors who in turn will represent their voices in the community. They also organize networking meetings which allows its members to interact with new people and sometimes create some business transactions. Another big advantage is that local chambers sometimes partner up with international chambers allowing you interact with more people in other countries.

3. Use B2B marketplaces

With the increase use of the internet for doing business, online B2B marketplaces have become a crucial tool to promote your sales leads and search for buy leads. These websites are quite easy to use and allows companies to post listings within minutes. Most of the time, premium memberships are also available allowing companies to have their own space or showroom on the online marketplace. Most of these websites pursue a more global approach lacking more Spanish speaking traffic. A newcomer called www.mercatrade.com has created a B2B marketplace dedicated to Latin America and the Caribbean. Their website is available in Spanish and Portuguese in the near future. This will definitely contribute to a dynamic trade in the region.