Doing Business in Latin America and the Caribbean: Perspectives from Three Leading CEOs
On September 26, 2024, the Georgetown Americas Institute held a panel discussion on the nature of doing business in Latin America. The panel featured Christian Daes, co-founder and chief operating officer of Tecnoglass Group; Jose Raul Gonzalez, CEO of the cement producing company Progreso; and Juan Carlos Mora, president of Bancolombia Group. Moderating the discussion was Juan Carlos Iragorri, director and host of the GAI podcast Y esto no es todo; as well as Karina Charry, MBA candidate at Georgetown McDonough School of Business.
Overcoming Challenges and Focusing on Opportunities
The realignment of supply chains is creating opportunities for growth in Latin America, but challenges such as market fragmentation and policy shifts remain. Daes started the conversation telling the audience about the origins of his firm. Tecnoglass Group, a company based in Colombia producing windows and glass, initially failed and was denied loans in its early years. Since then, the company has become a leading figure in the industry and has grown its portfolio to over one billion USD in sales. He encouraged students to focus on the opportunities that a country like Colombia has to offer, even though the rhetoric says otherwise. In his view, Colombians need to regain confidence in their country and focus on the many assets Colombia has to offer.
Gonzalez followed and gave the audience the history of Progreso, which was founded over 100 years ago, and spoke about how the company has since expanded from Guatemala to having a presence all over the region. He described how Progreso is driven by creating social value for the communities it operates in. According to Gonzalez, successful firms learn to adapt to the challenges of doing business in the region.
Promoting Financial Access
Mora finished by speaking about the origins of Bancolombia, which was established prior to the central bank of Colombia. The bank has a track record of promoting development in Colombia and the region, and it continues to stay true to this mandate. Juan Carlos Mora spoke about recent initiatives to include disenfranchised individuals into the financial system, such as establishing a digital banking system and assisting Venezuelan migrants with bank accounts. Mora also emphasized that conducting business in Latin America requires having a long-term vision and not being intimidated by political shifts.
Optimism for the Future
Throughout the event, these four CEOs shared successful business stories in Latin America with the audience, along with personal advice for operating in what is typically considered a volatile region.
During the question and answer session, one student asked the panelists for advice about returning to his home country of Colombia or pursuing work opportunities in the United States. In line with the great faith the panelists displayed for the region, they urged him to consider returning to Colombia in order to embrace the abundant business opportunities present there, despite negative perceptions.