Uruguay participated in the City Nation Place Global 2025 forum, joining more than 200 leaders from around the world to discuss destination marketing, investment, and talent attraction. This year’s event focused on how artificial intelligence is changing brand campaigns, the role of tourism in attracting investment, and building measurable reputations.
Larissa Perdomo, Country Brand Manager at Uruguay XXI, represented Uruguay at the forum. She said, “Participating in these spaces allows us to compare approaches, incorporate new tools, and reaffirm the value of data as a foundation for decision-making.” Perdomo was part of a panel titled “Putting a Value on a Place Brand,” moderated by Konrad Jagodzinski from Brand Finance. Other panelists included Todd Babiak of Brand Gold Coast and David Downs from New Zealand Story. The discussion centered on how measuring brand value can help move beyond storytelling toward understanding economic impact.
“This is the first time we have measured the value of our country brand, and we did so as a kick-off for a new phase,” explained Perdomo. “We needed to know how Uruguay is perceived around the world, and that insight was key to designing the strategy for the next four or five years.”
A study conducted by Brand Finance in 2024 valued Uruguay’s country brand at US$65.8 billion—a 14% increase compared to last year—with an A+ rating for brand strength and ranking 70th globally. The report attributed this progress to Uruguay’s macroeconomic stability, its leadership in renewable energy (with 95% of its energy matrix being renewable), and an international reputation based on reliability, openness, and innovation.
Brand Finance also highlighted Uruguay’s institutional strength and ethical governance. In markets such as Argentina and Spain, Uruguay leads perceptions of institutional quality, sustainability, and business climate. These findings support Uruguay’s Strategy 2035 plan to strengthen its global reputation as an economic asset while boosting investment, tourism, and exports.
“We discovered that we need to work more deeply in at least two key markets; that information is very useful for improving our performance,” said Perdomo.
She added that smaller nations face unique challenges: “In new markets, we find opportunities in trade and investment, but also conversion challenges due to our southern location and small market size.”
Uruguay’s involvement at City Nation Place contributes to its ongoing regional collaboration with Chile and Costa Rica through CIMAP. The country continues to position itself as a reference point in Latin America for strategic brand management by participating annually in this international forum.
The 2025 edition of City Nation Place Global covered topics such as artificial intelligence use across branding platforms and campaigns; using data-driven methods to measure economic and social impact; developing proactive strategies amid global changes; and leveraging diasporas as allies for talent attraction.
The congress brought together experts from cities including Copenhagen, Gold Coast, Sweden—who shared cases involving major events like Taylor Swift concerts—and presented rankings showing London, New York, Paris, and Tokyo with leading global reputations. Chile received recognition for its citizen participation campaign under Best Citizen Engagement.
Uruguay’s presence at this event reinforced its standing among countries pursuing evidence-based national branding strategies. Collaboration with Brand Finance was seen as an example of using measurement for continuous improvement.
