BRIEFS. economy

Foreign investment as percentage of GDP is high

For the second consecutive year, Panama ranked first in foreign investment in Latin America in relation to its gross domestic product (GDP), according to a report published yesterday by the United Nation's Economic Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). The organization's Spanish acronym is CEPAL.

The $1.8 billion Panama received in foreign investment in 2007 represents 10.5 percent of the country's GDP. That figure puts Panama ahead of such countries as Brazil, Mexico and Chile, although those nations lead the rankings in absolute terms. From that perspective, Panama is in eighth place in regional foreign investment, after Costa Rica.

"The important thing is to see where that investment is going. If its's in new businesses, it's going to generate more work and greater use of our natural resources, which is good news," said Rolando Gordón, a professor on the economics faculty at the Universidad de Panamá. "We need a transfer of technology, which creates jobs and makes use of national inputs for production," Gordón added. If those elements are in place, they "support the economic development of the country."

Foreign investment in Latin America and the Caribbean reached record levels in 2007. Capital flows to the region surpassed $100 billion for the first time ever.