August 1, 2006
Enterprising Venezuelans

(El Universal) - Venezuelans are the most enterprising people among the population of the 35 participating countries in GEM 2005 (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor), the most important international investigation project that measures early enterprising activity in several countries. This is done through representative surveys among the adult population, and, both men and women from Venezuela are on top of the worldwide list according to a study based on the general guidance of GEM and done by the Institute of Higher Administration Studies (IESA).

The national survey done by Datanalisis in April 2005 showed 25% of Venezuelans were starting their own business or already managed one of less than 3.5 years of existence. This is a lot higher than the 20.7% of Thailand, the second country on the list, or the 17.6% of New Zealand, the third on the list. It also is considerably higher than the world average (8.4%) (...)

According to the numbers provided by GEM, there is a large proportion of people in Venezuela who conceive and develop new businesses in spite of the difficulties. They are entrepreneurs who not only dream, but identify opportunities and are capable of getting financial and human resources to make their ideas come true".