The new ANH President has a master of science and doctorate in engineering from MIT, and an MBA from IMD (Lausanne). He is an honorary lecturer of the Center for Energy, Oil and Mining Studies at the University of Dundee (Scotland) where he held the title of deputy director.

Zamora returns to the agency after having been its first director general between 2003 and 2011. He has been senior advisor to Accenture and Schlumberger Business Consulting, senior consultant to the Boston Consulting Group, and consultant to the IDB (Interamerican Development Bank), the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and International Finance Corporation. Previously, he worked at Mobil de Colombia, the Institute of Nuclear Affairs, Carbocol and the Corporación Invertir en Colombia (now ProColombia).

The winners were selected from 16 finalists during the LATAM Region Seedstars World competition, which bills itself as the largest seed-stage startup competition for emerging markets. The contenders were selected and named at the Seedstars Summit LATAM in Medellin Colombia November 27th to 29th.

Selected companies:

1. Ribon, Brazil, donation platform for millennials
2. Mynkana, Ecuador, the uber of market research.
3. Mesa, Chile, bringing diners to restaurants at off-peak times
4. Evimed, Uruguay, online education for medical professionals
5. Ruedata, Colombia, data analytics to boost efficiency in bus and truck fleets
6. Afinidata, Guatemala, the smart early childhood tutor
7. Pixdea, Costa Rica, education through VR classroom programs
8. Manzana Verde, Peru, a subscription service for healthy meals
9. Baubap, Mexico, a financial inclusion platform
   

   Colombian Surfing Champion & motivational speaker Freddy Marimón has won multiple gold medals even though he has no legs.

More than just an entrepreneur’s conference, the Seedstars Summit LATAM was an opportunity for all stakeholders involved to network, gain knowledge, and build relationships with investors. For the first time, the event was open to other startups outside of the SSW competition including the Seedstars & Apps.co Expansion Program delegation of 10 Colombian startups in the process of internationalization.

Prior to the main Summit day, 35 participating startups completed an intensive growth Bootcamp at Medellin’s municipal incubator Ruta N, focused on scaling up their businesses, followed by the Investor Forum at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (UPB) sponsored by Amazon. The startups had over 150 one-to-one meetings with recognized local and international mentors and investors such as Brazil’s Monashees, Mexico’s Redwood Ventures, Washington DC based Village Capital and others.

November 29 was designated Summit Day, when the startups delivered 3-minute pitches on the main stage in front of more than 350 hand-picked ecosystem builders, corporates, investors, and startup enthusiasts representing some of the most prominent names of tech and entrepreneurship in Latin America. The Summit also featured workshops and speakers from global and regional companies, like Hubspot, Procolombia, Orlando Reyes (Co-Founder at Wisy) and Colombian surfing champion Freddy Marimon.

“I was impressed by the quality and diversity of startups looking for solutions in Latin America, the diversity of the sector was also pleasantly surprising,”—Anna Raptis, founder of Amplifica Capital.

“The Seedstars event in Medellin brought the most important agents for entrepreneurship in Latin America together. It was incredible to see new and old faces forming part of this ecosystem of knowledge and experience.” Said  Rafael Obando from HubspotSponsors included Ruta N, the Swiss Embassy of Colombia, Avianca, Amazon AWS, ISA and the UPB, with the media support of France24, & Entrepreneur .All photos courtesy of Seedstars

Above photo: IMD Business School’s Swiss campus

“A general analysis of the 2015 ranking shows that top countries are going back to the basics,” said Professor Arturo Bris, Director of the IMD World Competitiveness Center. “Productivity and efficiency are in the driver’s seat of the competitiveness wagon. Companies in those countries are increasing their efforts to minimize their environmental impact and provide a strong organizational structure for workforces to thrive.”

Highlights of the 2015 ranking

The USA remains at the top of the ranking as a result of its strong business efficiency and financial sector, its innovation drive and the effectiveness of its infrastructure. Hong Kong (2) and Singapore (3) move up overtaking Switzerland, which drops to fourth place. Canada (5), Norway (7), Denmark (8), Sweden (9) and Germany (10) remain in the top 10. Luxembourg moves to the top (6) from 11th place in 2014.

Results for Asia are mixed. Malaysia (12 to 14), Japan (21 to 27), Thailand (29 to 30) and Indonesia (37 to 42) move down. Taiwan (13 to 11), Republic of Korea (26 to 25) and the Philippines (42 to 41) slightly rise in the ranking. Most Asian economies in decline have seen a drop in their domestic economies and are impacted by weakening/aging infrastructure.

Eastern Europe experiences a mixture of results as well. Poland (36 to 33), the Czech Republic (33 to 29) and Slovenia (55 to 49) move up in the ranking. In the Baltic States, Estonia (30 to 31) and Latvia (35 to 43) rank lower than last year; although, Lithuania gains in the ranking (34 to 28). Elsewhere in the region, current events in Russia (38 to 45) and Ukraine (49 to 60) highlight the negative impact that armed conflict and the accompanying higher market volatility have on competitiveness in an increasingly interconnected international economy.

A pattern of decline is observed in Latin America. Chile moves from 31 to 35, Peru from 50 to 54, Argentina from 58 to 59 and Venezuela remains at the bottom of the table. Colombia stays at 51.

Among large emerging economies, Brazil (54 to 56) and South Africa (52 to 53) slightly drop, China (23 to 22) and Mexico (41 to 39) experience improvements while India remains at the same spot (44). This trend shows the difficulty in grouping emerging markets in one category, as the issues impacting their competitiveness differ. China’s slight increase stems from improvements in education and public expenditure, whereas Brazil suffers from a drop in domestic economy and less optimistic executive opinions.

A question of business efficiency

The ranking highlights one particular commonality among the best ranking countries. Nine countries from the top 10 are also listed in the top 10 of the business efficiency factor.

Business efficiency focuses on the extent to which the national environment encourages enterprises to perform in an innovative, profitable and responsible manner. It is assessed through indicators related to productivity such as the labor market, finance, management practices and the attitudes and values that characterize the business environment.

“Simply put, business efficiency requires greater productivity and the competitiveness of countries is greatly linked to the ability of enterprises to remain profitable over time,” said Professor Bris. “Increasing productivity remains a fundamental challenge for all countries.”

Long-term business profitability and productivity are difficult to achieve because they are largely underpinned by the strategic efforts of companies striving to maximize positive externalities that originate in economic activities.

The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, which will be published at the end of June, measures how well countries manage all their resources and competencies to facilitate long-term value creation. The overall ranking released today reflects more than 300 criteria, approximately two-thirds of which are based on statistical indicators and one-third on an IMD survey of 6,234 international executives.