Strong outlook for software, cloud, wireless and e-commerce in Latin America.

BY JOACHIM BAMRUD

While Latin America is facing a mixed economic outlook this year, the technology sector is expected to post another strong performance, CEOs say.

“As companies in some of the biggest economies in Latin America face the prospect of slower growth, they turn to technology to increase productivity and improve competitiveness,” says Rodolpho Cardenuto, President of Global Partner Operations and Latin America and Caribbean at Germany-based SAP, the world’s largest business software producer.

He quotes projections from Frost & Sullivan showing that Software as a Service (SaaS) in Latin America is expected to grow nearly 37 percent in 2015.

Wireless telecommunications is also expected to see a strong year. In Latin America, the number of mobile connections is projected to amount to 781 million in 2015, jumping from a penetration of 67 percent in 2007 to 123 percent by the end of 2014 and 130 percent this year, points out José Antonio Ríos, CEO and Chairman of wireless phone logistics company Celistics.