GITEX Expands to Latin America, Fuels $950B Digital Boom
▼ Summary
– GITEX LATAM will debut in São Paulo, Brazil on March 16-17, 2027, as Latin America’s first global tech event organized by DWTC and KAOUN International in partnership with ADESAMPA.
– The event aims to position Brazil as a central hub for digital innovation by leveraging its economic leadership, digital policies, and thriving startup ecosystem.
– Brazil is a key digital economy with a projected $259 billion ICT market and $99.8 billion AI market by 2033, and it has provided digital IDs and services to over 150 million citizens.
– GITEX LATAM will connect Latin America’s $6.8 trillion economy with global innovators, focusing on sectors like AI, agritech, and cybersecurity to drive digital transformation and investment.
– São Paulo, ranked first in Latin America for startups with $33.5 billion in VC funding over the past decade, will host the event to foster international partnerships and elevate tech cooperation.
Latin America’s digital economy is on a remarkable growth trajectory, projected to approach $950 billion by 2026. This expansion receives a powerful catalyst with the arrival of GITEX, the world’s leading technology and digital investment exhibition, which is launching its inaugural Latin American edition in São Paulo, Brazil, in March 2027. Organized through a strategic partnership between the Dubai World Trade Centre, KAOUN International, and the São Paulo Development Agency, GITEX LATAM will position itself at the heart of the region’s technological transformation.
The event aims to redefine Latin America as a central hub where its digital future converges with the most ambitious global innovation frontiers. It will leverage Brazil’s established economic leadership, forward-thinking digital policies, a vibrant startup ecosystem, and internationally relevant technology frameworks to achieve this vision.
Ricardo Nunes, the Mayor of São Paulo, welcomed GITEX LATAM as a pioneering initiative. He described it as a landmark platform that will connect local innovators with global opportunities. “São Paulo is excited to host GITEX LATAM, a significant catalyst enabling our finest innovators to meet global opportunities,” Nunes stated. He emphasized that the event will link pioneering startups, unicorns, and major enterprises with international markets, unlocking capital, forging strategic partnerships, and enhancing their global visibility. The City Hall of São Paulo is dedicated to empowering businesses that reflect the city’s creative and entrepreneurial strength, reinforcing its status as Latin America’s premier hub for innovation, investment, and transformative growth.
GITEX LATAM will specifically showcase Brazil as the vibrant cornerstone of regional tech. This expansion is part of GITEX’s rapid global growth, which has seen it build the world’s largest network of tech events across 14 cities and countries in just three years. Brazil’s inclusion in this exclusive network in 2027 is highly significant. The nation is a global leader in adopting digital public infrastructure, providing centralized access to hundreds of services and digital IDs for more than 150 million citizens. With its information and communications technology market targeted to reach $259 billion and its artificial intelligence market projected to hit $99.8 billion by 2033, GITEX is positioned to act as a major catalyst in Brazil’s ascent as a global hub for innovation and digital infrastructure.
Trixie LohMirmand, Executive Vice President of DWTC and CEO of KAOUN International, celebrated the partnership. “Brazil is the vibrant cornerstone of Latin America’s economy and a distinguished benchmark for dynamic, inclusive, and consequential technology development,” she remarked. “Together with São Paulo, a prolific hub where startup ingenuity, entrepreneurial spirit, and ambitious investments thrive, GITEX LATAM shall integrate Latin America with the limitless digital universe, unlocking unprecedented access to capital, knowledge, technology, and talent as the region scales towards global dominance.”
The event will serve as a global bridge, connecting international innovators to Latin America’s substantial economic might. The International Monetary Fund reports that the region’s emerging markets and developing economies collectively generate a GDP of $6.8 trillion. By channeling the capital, technology, and cross-border collaboration for which GITEX is renowned, the event will accelerate the region’s digital transformation. It aims to help shape Latin America’s digital decade and solidify its position in the global innovation economy, fostering a new era of technological growth by connecting Eastern and Western markets.
A future-oriented program will anchor the event, exploring critical sectors like artificial intelligence, agricultural technology, cloud computing, connectivity, cybersecurity, data centers, health technology, and renewable energy. GITEX LATAM will unveil new gateways into Latin America’s most dynamic emerging markets for global stakeholders. Its impact is expected to inspire transformative outcomes across the region’s rapidly digitizing economies and industries by catalyzing public-private collaboration, enhancing competitiveness, and igniting new waves of investment, talent, and infrastructure development.
The event will convene a powerful mix of global technology enterprises, thought leaders, policymakers, small and medium-sized enterprises, startups, and venture capitalists. It provides a unified platform for collaboration and investment in São Paulo, which is not only Brazil’s economic epicenter but also widely recognized as Latin America’s innovation capital. According to recent ecosystem reports, São Paulo ranks first both nationally and regionally, having attracted over $33.5 billion in venture capital funding over the past decade. Its entrepreneurial ecosystem is valued at $113 billion and has produced 11 unicorn companies valued at over $1 billion each.
Rodrigo Goulart, Municipal Secretary of Economic Development and Labour of São Paulo, expressed great anticipation for the event. “São Paulo awaits GITEX LATAM with tremendous anticipation, not least because of the immense potential to elevate tech cooperation to historic new heights across Brazil and Latin America,” he said. “By leveraging the world’s largest network of digital economy relationships, a network universally synonymous with GITEX, we are inspired to cultivate investor confidence and empower entrepreneurs as well as new talents.”
The announcement of GITEX LATAM was made during the GITEX GLOBAL event, where Brazilian and wider Latin American participation was notably strong. Brazil served as the official Country Partner, with its trade and investment promotion agency, ApexBrasil, exhibiting across two pavilions featuring more than 50 startups and innovation hubs. The City Hall of São Paulo also showcased over 10 startups, while Chile and Ecuador made their debut at the global event, joining representatives from over 180 countries.
This development follows the G20 Leaders’ Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, which also marked the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United Arab Emirates and Brazil. During the summit, both nations reaffirmed their strategic partnership and committed to exploring new collaborative opportunities in areas including artificial intelligence, agriculture, climate change, innovation, renewable energy, and other emerging technologies.
(Source: Economy Middle East)