Latin America and the Caribbean was the region with the strongest growth in foreign investment in 2010
In 2010, Latin America and the Caribbean was the region with the strongest percentage increases as a recipient and source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), according to a report presented today in Mexico City, Mexico, by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
Last year, the region’s FDI inflows were 40% higher than in 2009, representing 112.634 billion dollars, while outgoing FDI almost quadrupled in the same period to reach a historic high of 43.108 billion dollars, which highlights the buoyancy of transnational Latin American and Caribbean enterprises, known as trans-Latins.
In a context of falling foreign investment in developed countries (-7%) and rising investment in developing countries (10%), Latin America and the Caribbean increased its share of the recipient market from 5% to 10% between 2007 and 2010.
For 2011, FDI flows to Latin America and the Caribbean are expected to maintain this trend and increase by between 15% and 25%, which could take them to unprecedented high levels, according to the projections of the report launched by the Executive Secretary of ECLAC, Alicia Bárcena, and the Mexican Minister of Finance and Public Credit, Ernesto Cordero.
“The figures we are presenting today point to the growing integration of Latin American and the Caribbean in the process of economic globalization. The region’s countries not only remain attractive to foreign investors, but they are also increasingly daring to conquer other markets by means of trans-Latins”, stated Bárcena.
Nevertheless, the senior official did emphasize that “in order to improve the capacity to absorb the benefits of such investment, we are stressing the need to implement productive development policies focused on innovation and on the strengthening of local capacities to promote the creation of quality employment. FDI must help the region to grow with equality”.
According to the report Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean 2010, the region’s main recipient was Brazil, where FDI inflows posted a record surge of 87%, going from 25.949 billion dollars in 2009 to 48.462 billion dollars in 2010.
The second main recipient was Mexico (17.726 billion dollars), followed by Chile (15.095 billion dollars), Peru (7.328 billion dollars), Colombia (6.760 billion dollars) and Argentina (6.193 billion dollars).
In Central America, foreign investment flows to all countries grew, except in the case of El Salvador (-79%). In the Caribbean, inflows fell 18%.
Mexico was the country that invested the most abroad in 2010 (12.694 billion dollars). This was followed by Brazil (11.5 billion dollars), Chile (8.744 billion dollars) and Colombia (6.504 billion dollars).
The factors that resulted in the increased FDI receipts in 2010 include the improved performance of developed economies and the buoyancy of certain emerging economies that boosted some sectors thanks to increased demand.
United States remains the main investor in the region and was responsible for 17% of the FDI received in 2010, followed by the Netherlands (13%), China (9%) and Canada and Spain (both 4%).
The thirteenth version of this ECLAC report highlights the emergence of the Asian giant (China). In 2010, Chinese companies invested almost 15.0 billion dollars in Latin American and Caribbean countries, fundamentally in the form of mergers and acquisitions.
Over 90% of confirmed Chinese investment in Latin America has targeted the extraction of natural resources. In the medium term, this country’s transnational enterprises are expected to continue to be active in the region and diversify into infrastructure and manufacturing sectors.
Through its analysis of the sectors targeted by FDI, this United Nations Commission points out that the investment flows are reinforcing the region’s production pattern.
In South America, the main recipient sectors in 2010 were natural resources (43%) and services (30%). Compared with the period 2005-2009, a greater share of investment takes the form of primary sectors. In Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, investment continues to target mainly manufactures (54%) and services (41%).
The share of Latin America and the Caribbean as a recipient of investment with a high technology content remains small compared with other regions, although there has been an increase in the number of FDI projects in medium to high technology sectors and those associated with research and development.
The ECLAC publication also deals with FDI and export platforms in Central America, Panama and the Dominican Republic. According to ECLAC, transnational enterprises still wish to invest in Central American countries to generate export platforms, but the target sectors have changed from manufactures to services (especially tourism, property business and remote business services).
Lastly, the document reviews the main foreign investments and the business strategies observed in the regional telecommunications industry, where there is a convergence towards broadband, as well as the growing involvement of Latin America in the software industry, which has become a driver of economic growth.
Price Inflation and Food Shock
Today some of what passes for new information has to do with the fact that the price for practically everything with the possible exception of labour is set to move upward.
This is what the economists mean when they talk about inflation; that situation where things fetch more and more while – on occasion – income marches in an opposite direction.
On occasion, situations arise when some people are hard-pressed to find money sufficient to pay for basics like food, shelter, heath and protection.
Sadly, this is becoming a reality for more and more Bahamians, particularly those who are ill, home-bound, indigent or otherwise marooned on Death’s door-step.
We now have another looming crisis on our hand. This time around is a situation where the government and people of the Bahamas must respond.
While we are quite certain that Social Welfare and charities galore in Civil Society can and will do what they must, we are also certain that these actions will only suffice to delay the coming of that day when some of those who are in distress might be pushed to take desperate action – with some of what they do bordering on the criminal.
But while this might yet become a reality in this already blighted and blasted place, we are sufficiently hopeful in our advocacy for the development of policies and strategies that could be of some great help, moving forward.
Bahamians can and should so gear themselves that they can produce more of the food they consume; and for that matter, more of the foodstuffs consumed by visitors.
The time is precisely now for our leaders and their Caribbean counterparts to come together with a view towards harnessing regional capacity.
This process could have the salutary effect of making the entire region less dependent on the rest of the world.
Information reaching us suggests that even if – by some magic- things were to return to some semblance of normalcy, food prices, fuel prices and the prices attached to technology and other commodities would continue to rise.
This analysis has evident implications and ramifications for countries such as the Bahamas that just happen to be ultra-dependent on the export and sale of services to sustain the life-styles to which they have become accustomed.
Put simply, all currently available indicators suggest that the Bahamian people should – as of now – brace themselves for the onset of any number of wrenching changes.
One such change involves this nation’s and our region’s speedier access to food that is inexpensive, nutritious, available and accessible, all at once.
Acceptance of such a formula immediately brings with it a slew of implications for labor law, immigration policy and relations with our neighbors in the region.
We deem this matter one that should be given priority attention: this because, the Bahamas unlike some of its sister nations in the Caribbean – inclusive of Jamaica, Cuba and Barbados, among others – is a net food importer.
This fact of life now underscores the grave importance of news coming in to the effect that, "... Rising international food prices could trigger an acceleration of inflation in several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean this year…"
The Inter-American Development Bank indicates that this now underscores what it describes as "…the need for policies to protect the urban poor…"
There are thousands of Bahamians who are today suffering from a double-barreled food whammy.
This two-pronged disaster derives not only from the fact that tens of thousands of them are obliged to eat food that is not only expensive, but also massively devoid of nutrients. Very many of them now have next to nothing with which to buy food.
These people are sometimes reduced to begging.
This situation is one that will be with us for the long haul; precisely because of the parlous situation in a United States that is itself battling with unemployment, a fractious political system and forces over which it has little control.
This suggests that even when recovery does come, tens of millions of Americans will work harder, save more and therefore spend less on luxuries such as a vacation-visit to the Bahamas.
While some of our fellow Bahamians wait for things to return to normal, there are some other Bahamians who have sought to suggest to a skeptical public that no such return is in the offing.
These people routinely call on the authorities to do what they have to do so as to help our people as they do their level-best to get through these hard times.
The Bahamian people can and should – with the help of appropriate labour – produce more of the food its people consume.
Rihanna At The 2011 Met Ball At The Metropolitan Museum Of Art
On Monday night Rihanna attended the Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty Costume Institute Gala held at the The Metropolitan Museum Of Art, in New York. Rihanna turn heads on the red carpet wearing a Stella McCartney dress which conservative from the front and back but revealing from the side.
TARRUS RILEY ADDED TO BEST OF THE BEST LINEUP
With his most recent hit Shaka Zulu Pickney currently riding the New York, South Florida, RETV and HYPE TV charts, singer Tarrus Riley is set to unleash his arsenal of hits at the 2011 staging of the Best of the Best concert in Miami on May 29.
Riley has joined the lineup of performers which includes some of the hottest names in reggae, dancehall and hip hop.
“I am looking forward to entertaining and pleasing the fans,” Riley said in a statement to the media.
Riley’s Never Leave I single which was produced by Jordan McClure of Chimney Records, is currently creating waves across the Caribbean. It is presently number one on the reggae chart in Aruba.
“It was a pleasure working with Jordan on this track. The response to Never Leave I has been overwhelming both in Jamaica and in the Caribbean. I would like to thank the fans, the media and the radio disc jocks for their continued support of my work,” said Riley.
Riley who is gearing up to release a new album later this year, has a new single called Love Scars which is to be serviced to radio later this month.
The song was produced by Roshaun ‘Bay C’ Clarke from Bombrush Records. Clarke had previously worked with Riley on the Shaka Zulu Pickney track.
“I’m very excited about Love Scars. It’s a different style and sound but the message is the same. It is a song that people from all levels can relate to. We are already planning a video for it, which we are confident the public will endorse,” said Riley.
Trinidad minister to meet with REDJet officials
REDJet officials and Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of Works and Transport Jack Warner will meet for the first time on Friday.
Warner told reporters, “While I was travelling last night (Tuesday) in Miami, I met an official from REDJet and they asked me for a meeting and I agreed to see them. They said urgently and I arranged the meeting for 6 am on Friday. So Friday 6 am I will meet with them for the first time.”
The airline was launched here last month but has not received clearance from the Civil Aviation Authority to operate out of Trinidad and Tobago.
Meanwhile, commenting on the ongoing issue with the Board of Caribbean Airlines, Warner said, “I have spoken, my permanent secretary has spoken. I read where the Minister of Finance has spoken and at this point in time I would leave the CAL Board there. The Board in the meantime has work to do, let them work. The Board itself has some problems in terms of its composition, personality clashes, and until that is resolved, there will be no peace in the land.”
Cuba ex-minister Roca-Iglesias jailed for corruption
A former Cuban government minister, Alejandro Roca-Iglesias, has been jailed for 15 years at the end of a high-profile anti-corruption trial.
His co-defendant, Chilean businessman Max Marimbo - a close friend of revolutionary leader Fidel Castro - was jailed in absentia for 20 years.
It is the first such corruption case in communist Cuba to end with a government minister being jailed.
The former food industry minister, 75, was sacked in 2009 after a long career.
The official Communist Party newspaper, Granma, said the judges had received compelling evidence linking the two convicted men to serious cases of corruption.
Fall from grace
During the trial, which was held behind closed doors, the court heard how both men worked together to commit fraud in the food sector.
The Chilean entrepreneur, Max Marimbo, first rose to prominence as a bodyguard for the deposed Chilean President Salvador Allende.
However, he fled into exile in Cuba where he built up a food empire jointly with the Cuban state.
Both Mr Marimbo and Mr Roca fell from grace soon after President Raul Castro took over from his ailing brother, Fidel Castro in 2006.
The newly appointed Cuban leader started an economic reform programme that targeted inefficiences, waste and corruption inside the state apparatus.
The two defendants sentenced by the Havana court are among the most senior figures to have been penalised in an ongoing major anti-corruption drive.
However, it is not the first time a government minister has fallen from grace in Cuba.
In a major cabinet reshuffle in 1989/90 an interior minister was given a jail sentence for alleged ties to Colombian drug-traffickers.
Obama lays wreath at Ground Zero
US President Barack Obama is visiting Ground Zero, the site of the 9/11 attacks in New York, four days after US forces killed al-Qaeda head Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan.
Bin Laden was believed to be the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks in 2001.
Mr Obama laid a wreath in memory of the nearly 3,000 victims and spoke to relatives at the site.
He earlier told New York firefighters: "When we say we will never forget, we mean what we say."
The visit comes a day after the US president said graphic photographs of Bin Laden's dead body would not be made public.
The al-Qaeda leader was killed by US special forces in northern Pakistan on Monday. His body was then buried at sea from a US aircraft carrier.
The Pakistani military on Thursday admitted "shortcomings" for failing to locate Bin Laden and has said it will launch an investigation.
But it also warned it would review co-operation with the US if there were any more unilateral raids such as the one that killed Bin Laden.
Moment of reflection
Mr Obama's first stop in New York was a fire station in midtown Manhattan. He told firefighters: "We are going to make sure that the perpetrators of that horrible act will see justice."
Mr Obama met families of the victims at the site of Ground Zero, where he laid a wreath in red, white and blue.
He made no public comments at the scene.
The BBC's Barbara Plett, in New York, says the Obama administration is very sensitive to accusations that the president is politicising his visit.
Thousands of people gathered at Ground Zero on Sunday night, waving flags and climbing street signs, as the news emerged that Bin Laden had been killed.
On Monday, Mr Obama said he had made it his top national security priority to find Bin Laden.
Ground Zero is now a building site, with construction scheduled for completion in 2013.
As well as several office towers, the area will also house the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, which comprises a museum, waterfalls and a park.
Mr Obama has decided not to publish photos of Bin Laden's body, saying the images could pose a national security risk.
"It is important for us to make sure that very graphic photos of somebody who was shot in the head are not floating around as an incitement to additional violence, as a propaganda tool. That's not who we are," Mr Obama said.
Our correspondent says there are mixed feelings in New York about the decision not to publish the pictures. While some want proof that it was Bin Laden who was killed, for others, the photos would reopen painful memories.
There are reports that among the information gathered from Bin Laden's compound were suggestions that al-Qaeda was considering attacking US trains on the 10th anniversary of the strikes of 11 September 2001.
According to a Homeland Security intelligence warning seen by the Associated Press, from February 2010 the group considered tampering with an unspecified railway track so that a train would fall off at a valley or bridge.
Meanwhile, White House officials have again changed their account of the raid on Bin Laden's compound.
They told respected media outlets, including the New York Times, that only one individual - a courier for Bin Laden - fired at US special forces. He was killed at the start of the raid.
The al-Qaeda leader was elsewhere in compound and unarmed when killed.
As recently as Tuesday, the president's spokesman had spoken of a "highly volatile" fire-fight, lasting throughout the 40-minute operation. And the White House had given the impression that an armed Osama Bin Laden had been killed in a shoot-out.
Critics have raised concerns about the legality of the operation, after the US revised its account to acknowledge Bin Laden was unarmed when shot dead.
But the US has said Bin Laden was a lawful military target, whose killing was "an act of national self-defence".
Anger in Pakistan
In Pakistan, there are continuing recriminations over the failure to arrest or locate Bin Laden.
A senior Pakistani military official said one of Bin Laden's wives told investigators she had been living in the same room for five years, along
In Pakistan, there are continuing recriminations over the failure to arrest or locate Bin Laden.
A senior Pakistani military official said one of Bin Laden's wives told investigators she had been living in the same room for five years, along with her husband.
On Thursday, the head of Pakistan's diplomatic service, Salman Bashir, again dismissed allegations his country's secret services had links to al-Qaeda, and said the investigation into the presence of Bin Laden in Abbottabad would reveal what failures there were.
Pakistan's army has long been seen as the most effective institution in an unstable country. However, Pakistani public opinion has been critical of the perceived violation of national sovereignty by the US raid.
Referring to the raid, Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Kayani was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying: "Any similar action violating the sovereignty of Pakistan will warrant a review on the level of military/intelligence cooperation with the United States."
The BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan, in Rawalpindi, said Pakistan's forces again denied all prior knowledge of the raid and Bin Laden's whereabouts.
However, he says there were some contradictions: the military claimed Pakistan contributed information leading to the capture of Bin Laden by providing details of phone calls made from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia.
The calls - from a Saudi man - concerned financial transactions. The last one was traced to Bin Laden's compound, the military said.
However, our correspondent in Rawalpindi says the military did not explain why, after this call, the compound was not raided or investigated
US election 2012: Key Republicans sit out debate
The first debate on the road to the Republican 2012 presidential nomination is being held with most major potential candidates absent from the stage.
In South Carolina on Thursday, five men were expected to debate the US economy, the budget and healthcare, and to take shots at President Barack Obama.
But only ex-Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is seen as a credible candidate for the Republicans in 2012.
While Mr Obama is seen as vulnerable, the field is slow to take shape.
The debate - hosted by the South Carolina Republican Party and broadcast on Fox News - includes Mr Pawlenty, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, Congressman Ron Paul and former pizza restaurant magnate Herman Cain.
Tea Party role
A string of well-known potential contenders are sitting out the debate.
They include former Alaska Governor and 2008 vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.
Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, is also not attending, and none of Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, real estate magnate and reality television star Donald Trump and former Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman will take to the stage.
Mr Obama's poll numbers indicate he is vulnerable, due in large part to the poor state of the US economy.
But a host of factors have left leading Republicans shy of jumping into the campaign, analysts say.
They include the uncertain role of the populist Tea Party, the consolidation of power among hard-right conservative Republicans and the perceived weakness of would-be front-runner Mr Romney.
Mr Obama's fund-raising prowess is also seen as a factor dissuading potential opponents.
By contrast, in May 2007 - when both Republican and Democratic nominations were open - a South Carolina Republican debate included two sitting senators, four former governors, three US congressmen, and a former New York City mayor.
The first balloting of the 2012 primary campaign will be the Iowa caucus on 6 February 2012.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press, America's most wide-reaching news agency, has said it is boycotting Thursday's debate to protest against the Fox News channel's restrictions on coverage by its photographers.
Share this page * Email * Print Share this page 74 * Share * Facebook * Twitter Syria protests: Banias fear amid Deraa pullout reports
Syrian activists are preparing to take to the streets on Friday for what they are calling a "day of defiance".
Tanks are reported to have withdrawn from the city of Deraa, where a human rights groups says the government has carried out a 10-day "massacre".
But security forces are reported to have gathered in other urban areas, including the coastal town of Banias.
More than 500 Syrians are thought to have been killed during attempts to quell seven weeks of protests.
At least 2,500 others have been detained as part of a violent crackdown that the US has described as "barbaric".
'Total disgust'
In cities across Syria protesters are calling for greater political rights and personal freedoms. Some are calling for the downfall of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
People are expected to gather again after prayers on Friday, which have become a regular focal point for protests in the Arab world in 2011.
The unrest in Syria poses the most serious challenge to four decades of rule by the Assad family in one of the Arab world's most tightly controlled countries.
Foreign journalists are not allowed to enter the country, so it is difficult to verify the reports of deaths.
One doctor, who said he planned to join those demonstrating, said the "indiscriminate killings and inhumane arrests have generated total disgust among the average Syrian".
"Soldiers with rifles no longer deter people. The propaganda that this regime is the only guarantor of stability no longer washes," he was quoted as telling Reuters.
'Preparing to attack'
Military units were reported to be deploying elsewhere on Thursday, including around the coastal town of Banias, home to one of Syria's two oil refineries.
Four armoured personnel carriers, several tanks and a bus carrying soldiers were seen by one eyewitness quoted by the Associated Press.
Hundreds of families were said to be fleeing the area, fearing that Banias - like the city of Deraa - could come under siege.
"It looks like they are preparing to attack the town, like they did in Deraa," one activist told the AFP news agency by telephone from the town.
A UN humanitarian team is expected to visit Deraa in the coming days, the organisation's deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said on Thursday, following an appeal to President Bashar al-Assad by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Over the past two days there has also been an increased military presence also in the coastal towns of Homs and Rastan. Troops have also gathered in the Damascus suburbs of Erbin, Saqba, Douma and in the town of Tel, north of the capital.
In Washington, state department spokesman Mark Toner said the US continues to "press Assad's regime to desist in its violent behaviour".
"We abhor the violence there," Mr Toner said. "I think I called it barbaric, the measures that were taken the other day against the citizens of Deraa, and we urge Syria to end these kinds of actions against innocent civilians who are simply expressing their aspirations for a democratic future."
The Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies says snipers and anti-aircraft machine guns were used to fire on unarmed civilians in the southern city and recent amateur video appears to show dozens of unarmed protesters being shot and bleeding to death on the streets.
It has labelled the killings in Deraa a "massacre".
The government says it is taking action against "elements of terrorist groups... to restore security, peace and stability".
DIGICEL TCI CEO E. JAY SAUNDERS, DELIVERS AT BLACKBERRY WORLD 2011
E. Jay Saunders, CEO of Digicel TCI today delivered two presentations at the prestigious BlackBerry World 2011(formally WES) currently being held at the Orlando World Center Marriott in Orlando, Florida, which is estimated to have over 6,000 attendees.
E. Jay was nominated by RIM (the maker of the popular BlackBerry smartphones and the PlayBook Tablet PC) to speak on the topics of “Driving Value in Key Small to Medium Sized Vertical Markets” and “Storefronts that Sell”. The first Digicel representative to present at BlackBerry World, E. Jay stated “when an invitation comes to speak at a prestigious event as BlackBerry World you can’t turn it down. To be asked to speak on two topics is very humbling. This opportunity gave me the chance to publicly present the mobile solution that I’ve been working on in my spare time over the last couple of months. The solution was designed to greatly enhance the retail customer experience but at a price point that any small businesses can afford. I’m honored that RIM felt that it merit a presentation at its annual conference. Presenting at BlackBerry World also gave me the chance to showcase some of the great work being done on our retail stores by Digicel Group and Digicel TCI Retail Sales teams, who I am convinced are some of the best in the industry. I must thank Digicel’s Senior Management team for allowing and encouraging me to take up this offer.”
Some of the other speakers at the 3 day conference are: Mike Lazaridis, President & Co-CEO, RIM; Carolyn Everson, Vice President, Global Advertising Sales, Facebook; Dean Kamen Founder & President, DEKA Research & Development Corporation (inventor of the Segway); Malcolm Gladwell Author of What the Dog Saw and Outliers; Kevin Cavanaugh Vice President, Business and Technical Strategy, Collaboration Solutions, IBM Software Group; Tom Kelley General Manager, IDEO; Steven Berlin Johnson, Author of Where Good Ideas Come From and The Invention of Air; and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer who announced their new partnership With RIM.