Direct foreign investment in Colombia reached historical heights in 2007, but global financial uncertainty in the wake of several U.S. bank failings will drop the figure back to normal levels this year, according to new study.
Foreign investors pumped US$1.8 billion into the Colombian economy last year, nearly a third more than the year before, according to the study by the Conference of United Nations for Commerce and Development reported by Spanish news agency EFE.
Current economic deacceleration and financial market turbulence, however, will assure that the trend will not continue.
The value of international transactions fell 29 percent in the first quarter of 2008 compared to the year before. In total, foreign direct investment is expected to fall 10 percent.
“We expect a fall of 10 percent, but at the same time we predict that inversion in developed countries and emerging countries is going to remain stable, said general director of the conference, Supachai Panitchpakdi.