A generation ago, attracting inward foreign direct investment (FD) was widely viewed as the strategic priority for igniting economic growth and enhancing the standard of living in Latin America and beyond. Within the arc of a generation a new thinking coalesced. Systematic research spanning a broad spectrum of national and institutional contexts identified entrepreneurship emerged as the driving force underling jobs, growth and international competitiveness. The policy focus accordingly responded, shifting to how best to generate and attract entrepreneurship. The answer has been articulated as the entrepreneurial ecosystem, which can simply be understood to serve as a resource provider to entrepreneurs. A new urgency accompanied the search for understanding what exactly constitutes an entrepreneurial ecosystem and how can it be created, fostered and nourished to spur and sustain entrepreneurship. The entrepreneurial ecosystem consists of individuals, organizations, companies, and institutions, along with their interactions, that support entrepreneurs, either directly or indirectly.
It is one thing to prioritize an entrepreneurial ecosystem but a very different thing to successfully build one that fuels dynamic entrepreneurship. What eludes policy makers and communities across the globe in successfully building and sustaining an entrepreneurial ecosystem is a functional framework explicitly benchmarking where that community stands, where it needs to go and how to get there. But thanks to the GEIAL comparative report, not in Latin America. This Report on dynamic entrepreneurship reflects the state-of-the art thinking and engagement in building an entrepreneurial ecosystem and informing thought leaders in policy and business exactly where they currently stand and where they need to go to create world-class entrepreneurial ecosystems. While the Latin American Group of Intelligent Ecosystems (GEIAL) Report is focused on the region, it paves new ground that thought leaders in business and policy around the globe will take note of and follow as the state-of-the art best practice in providing a blueprint about how to infuse a place with entrepreneurship.
The 2025 GEIAL Report contains both good news but also an explicit challenge for Latin America. The good news is that Latin America claims some of the most vibrant and dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystems in the world, such as Sao Paulo, Santiago, Montevideo, Medellin and Monterrey, as well as smaller regions, such as Valparaiso. The challenge is also articulated in the Report both for these entrepreneurship leaders but also other cities and regions throughout Latin America to activate and bolster the requisite resources and needs of entrepreneurs to ignite their entrepreneurial potential that will ultimately drive prosperity and societal well-being.
The rich promise of prosperity and a world-class standard of living has long eluded Latin America. Thanks to the GEIAL Report, Latin America, but also the rest of the world, has a clearly articulated way forward for turning this promise into reality.
