Press Release: Latin Business Index

Latin Business Index 2007

Chile and Mexico best, Haiti and Bolivia worst

Miami, USA (May 10, 2007) - Chile cements its position as the best country in Latin America to do business in, according to the second annual Latin Business Index from Latin Business Chronicle.

Mexico, Latin America's second-largest economy, came in second. However, Uruguay replaced Costa Rica as Latin America's third-best country to do business in.

Haiti again ranked at the bottom, followed by Bolivia. Haiti's score of 13.40 points was three times lower than Chile's score of 41.19 points.

Measured by trade groups, Mercosur fared best, with an average score of 27.89 points, followed by CAFTA at 23.08 points and the Andean Community last at 22.78 points. However, all trade groups lag Chile, Mexico (32.71 points) and Panama (29.16 points).

If ALBA - the political-economic alliance headed by Venezuela - is also included, it comes in last. ALBA consists of Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. As reliable information from Cuba is difficult to obtain, it is not included in the Latin Business Index. But the average of Bolivia, Nicaragua and Venezuela is 21.46 points.

The best and worst within each trade group are:

?  ALBA: Venezuela best and Bolivia worst.

?  Andean Community: Colombia best and Bolivia worst.

?  CAFTA: Costa Rica best and Nicaragua worst.

?  Mercosur: Uruguay best and Paraguay worst.

The index of 19 countries looks at five key categories and 28 subcategories to measure the recent, current and future business environment in a country. They are:

?  Macro Environment (GDP growth 2005 and 2006, estimated growth this year and forecasted growth next year, GDP per capita and inflation 2005 and 2006, estimated inflation this year and forecasted inflation next year).

?  Globalization & Competitiveness (globalization, competitiveness, tariffs and education/ health).

?  Corporate Environment (corporate tax rates, access to capital for entrepreneurs and ease of doing business, including starting and closing a business).

?  Technology Level (PC, Internet, wireless and fixed telephony penetration).

?  Political Environment (political freedom, economic freedom, political stability, political outlook, business policies of government, degree of transparency and security).

The complete report, including the ranking, is available to media upon request.

Link to story:
http://www.latinbusinesschronicle.com/app/article.aspx?id=1194

About Latin Business Chronicle

Latin Business Chronicle is a weekly online journal specializing in Latin America's business and technology. It has about 15,000 monthly readers and publishes special reports, news, opinion and commentary as well as the widely-quoted Latin Business Index, Latin American Globalization Index, Latin Technology Index and Latin Security Index.

Website: http://www.latinbusinesschronicle.com

Latin Business Chronicle

Joachim Bamrud

Editor-in-Chief

E-mail: info@latinbusinesschronicle.com

Phone: +1 (305) 864-3422