Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) throughout Latin America are finally seeing signs of recovery for the first time since 2008, and almost 80 percent project economic improvement for their companies over the course of the next 12 months, according to the UPS Business Monitor Latin America study.
Despite not yet returning to pre-crisis business performance levels, SMEs confirmed a considerable decrease in workforce reductions and ranked marketing and sales as their top investment priority in 2011, in addition to citing supply chain management as a strategy for increased competitiveness.
"The findings from the latest BMLA study are very motivating considering that economic conditions for Latin American SMEs are improving, and they are seeing growth opportunities ahead," said Romaine Seguin, UPS Americas President. "SMEs are stabilizing their workforce and are ready to invest in strategies that will help them capitalize on the momentum carrying into 2011. The BMLA is a resource provided to businesses of all sizes to help keep them informed of opportunities and trends occurring throughout their region as they develop business strategies to grow their bottom line."
Since 2006, UPS has conducted the BMLA survey among SME business leaders to gather insight into the latest opinions, attitudes and practices of SME decision makers throughout the region. The 2010 edition of the BMLA comprises more than 800 surveyed SMEs across Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Mexico.
Complete results of the survey are available at the UPS Pressroom.
