In 2004 Latin American countries received a total of 68 billion US dollars in foreign direct investment(FDI), 44 percent higher than that of 2003, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said in its recent report.

Among all the Latin American countries, Brazil and Mexico are the top two recipients of the FDI, drawing 18 billion dollars and 17 billion dollars, respectively, which amount to 51.47 percent of the total FDI in the region.

Meanwhile, the two countries are also major investors in other Latin American counties. In 2004 Brazil alone invested 9.5 billion dollars in the region, which accounted for 86.36 percent of the region's total investment.

Active investors in the two counties include oil and metallurgical companies in Brazil, as well as cement and telecommunication companies in Mexico. According to the report, the flow of the FDI into Latin America will remain a strong momentum in 2005, which will lay a solid foundation for equipment upgrading and production expansion.

However, the report said, some resource-rich Latin American countries neglect the comprehensive use of the FDI and focus only on the development of raw materials.

Besides, the basic facilities in transportation and energy industry have to be improved in order to guarantee the steady increase of the FDI in the region.

Source: Xinhua