ESRI announces that it has entered a strategic alliance with CG/LA Infrastructure LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based company dedicated to promoting and supporting infrastructure development in Latin America aimed at quadrupling the current level of investment for infrastructure development projects in the region.

The alliance will help CG/LA in its project development efforts by allowing, through the use of geographic information system (GIS) technology, the mapping and tracking of projects critical to the economic growth of Latin America. Specific sectors that will be affected by this alliance are water and wastewater, power generation, oil and gas, transportation and logistics, mining, and digital infrastructure.

“Latin American infrastructure is currently a $35 billion business, and with ESRI’s help we believe that we will be able to catalyze market growth, so that within five years it will be a $140 billion marketplace,” says Norman Anderson, president and CEO of CG/LA Infrastructure. “To sustain and improve current growth rates, Latin America needs to invest 5 to 6 percent of its regional gross domestic product in critical infrastructure. After this year’s intense political election cycle, 2007 is going to be the year of infrastructure in the Americas.”

Anderson continued, “CG/LA looks forward to working with ESRI in bringing critical GIS technology to the global infrastructure marketplace. We believe that ESRI is a unique company, and its technology will be critical as we work to build a better world.”

 “ESRI’s alliance with CG/LA represents a leap forward in expanding the use of GIS in the Latin American infrastructure.” comments Leandro Rodriguez, ESRI’s business development manager for Latin America. “CG/LA is the center of a powerful network of business and finance organizations, and its members include top infrastructure executives, project leaders, financing institutions, and goods and services providers. We are very excited about joining this network. With the inclusion of our GIS component, I am certain that CG/LA will be able to better serve Latin America, where the potential for growth is enormous.”

ESRI sets the de facto standard in GIS software development and services. Many ESRI users benefit from basing their information infrastructure on a company-wide or enterprise GIS. An enterprise GIS provides enormous advantages to companies in the management of their spatially related data.

ESRI will also be a Gold Sponsor at the Fifth Annual Latin American Leadership Forum to be held March 14–15, 2007, in the Dominican Republic and will become a member of the Leadership Forum Advisory Board, which is in charge of setting the strategic guidelines for the conference. The forum will unite the top 50 projects throughout the region, across all infrastructure categories, with high-level executive participants.

CG/LA Infrastructure

Founded in 1987, CG/LA Infrastructure LLC focuses on infrastructure project development in developing countries. Originally focused on Latin America, the firm has expanded globally and sees infrastructure as absolutely critical for country and regional competitiveness. Clients include leading U.S., European, Asian, Middle Eastern, and Latin American infrastructure-related companies. Visit www.cg-la.com.
 

About the Fifth Annual Latin American Leadership Forum

The Latin American Leadership Forum is a unique event bringing 500–600 executive leaders together to discuss the 50 top infrastructure projects in Latin America ($35–$40 billion in enterprise value). The theme of this year’s forum is Building Productivity and Quality of Life; Transforming Potential into Reality, and this will be the first time that the Leadership Forum will be held outside the United States. Increasingly recognized as the most important Latin American business event, the 2007 Leadership Forum will be held March 14–15, 2007, in the Dominican Republic. Visit www.lalf5.com.