Discover the characteristics that make Colombia the best country for entrepreneurship in Latin America, according to the 2021/2022 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor.
What makes a country better than others for entrepreneurship?
The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor observes 13 conditions such as ease of access to entrepreneurial finance; government policies towards supporting entrepreneurial activities; taxes and reduction of bureaucracy; government entrepreneurial programs; entrepreneurial education at schools and universities; market dynamics; commercial and professional infrastructure, among others.
Colombia: the best Latin American country for entrepreneurship
The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor classifies countries according to their capacity to foster the creation of new businesses. The 2021/2022 Index’s release included the cases of 50 countries and the opinions of more than 2,000 experts in entrepreneurship.
Colombia occupied the 25th global position and the first place in Latin America, ahead of Chile, Greece, Poland, Turkey, Mexico, and Brazil; and had a similar rating to countries such as Japan, Italy, and Ireland.
Compared with countries with economies like Colombia’s, the country stands out in aspects such as public policies and government programs that promote and support entrepreneurship; university and college education geared towards entrepreneurship; and the entrepreneurial culture that exists in Colombian society.
An example of this is the Entrepreneurship National Policy (CONPES 4011 of 2020) that has the goal to enhance the development of entrepreneurial culture, improve the access to and sophistication of financing mechanisms, strengthen the networks and strategies of commercialization, facilitate technology and innovation for entrepreneurship, and strengthen the institutional architecture that provides enabling conditions for the entrepreneurial ecosystem, according to the Bogota’s Entrepreneurship Observatory, Bogotá Escala.
In addition, the Young Entrepreneurship Law (Law 1780 of 2016) provides benefits such as the exemption from payment of the commercial registration and its renewal for the first year for companies having young board members (18 to 35 years old); and the Orange Law (Law 1834 of 2017), that promotes technical knowledge and financing for cultural and creative entrepreneurship.
In addition, according to the index, Colombia has improved its entrepreneurship environment during the last three editions of the index (2019, 2020, 2021). The country has also had remarkable participation in aspects such as digitalization and remote working during the pandemic; and the use of technology and digital media to sell products and services during this period.