Caribbean & Central America - July 2013 (ISSN 1741-4458)

FDI: According to the most recent report by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Eclac), released on 14 May, Panama remains the leading recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the sub-region, accounting for US$3.0bn (34% of the total) in 2012. The report notes that while there is no official data on FDI-receiving sectors, data on mergers, acquisitions and investment projects announced in 2012 indicate that a large share of FDI went to services, especially logistics, energy and the construction industry. The report singles out as noteworthy announcements made in 2012: the investment by Brazil’s GMR Energia in the energy sector, and the investment by Denmark’s AP Moller-Maersk in maritime transport logistics. The report also highlights that the Swiss mining company, Glencore International, increased its equity interest in the Samref Overseas- the US$480m investment was the largest that Panama received in 2012. Substantial investments also went to the buoyant food industry (particularly the dairy sector): Colombia’s Grupo Nutresa acquired the Central American ice cream company, Panama’s American Franchising Corp. (AFC), for US$110m.

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