Friday, May 09, 2008

Latin America receives record FDI in 2007

According to a report released on 8 May by the UN body ECLAC, based in Santiago FDI received by Latin America and Caribbean in 2007 was a record 106 billion dollars surpassing the previous record of 89 billion in 1999.

Highlights of the report
- FDI increased from 72.5 billion dollars in 2006 to 106 billion in 2007. This 46% increase is the highest among various regions.
- natural resources were the main area of investment in south america except in brazil where services received most investment. manufacturing was the main investment area in mexico.
-The main FDI recipient country in 2007 was Brazil, with US$34.6 billion, followed by Mexico (US$23.2 billion), Chile (US$14.5 billion) and Colombia (US$9 billion, Argentina- 5.7 billion, Peru-5.3 billion
- Brazil has come back to claim its top position after having been overtaken by mexico in recent years.
- Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Panama and El Salvador received between 1.5 and 1.8 billion dollars each in 2007.
- South America received 71 billion dollars while the rest went to Mexico, central america and caribbean.
-The main foreign investors in 2007 were the United States, the Netherlands and Spain

-Outward investment flows from Latin America and the Caribbean to other regions in 2007 fell to US$20.6 billion, after reaching a maximum high of over US$42 billion in 2006. Brazil invested abroad 7 billion dollars followed by Mexico- 5.5 billion, Chile-3.8 billion and Argentina 1.1 billion.

The record FDI is a sign of the confidence of the foreign investors in the stability and growth prospects of the region.

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