Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 03/2010

Outward investment by Trans-Latin enterprises: reasons for optimism

Michael Mortimore, Carlos Razo

August 2009

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

Abstract

Despite the global crisis, outward FDI by Latin American firms grew by more than 40% in 2008. The picture for 2009 is less clear, due to the expected regional GDP contraction, falling commodity prices, and tightening credit markets. Nonetheless, the authors argue that many countervailing factors make Latin American investment more resilient in the crisis than other regions may be.