In a turbulent presidential election year characterised by volatile markets, the Brazilian financial centres of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro topped the ranking of inward foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Latin America and Caribbean region, having each attracted an estimated total of $281.1m between September 2017 and the end of August, according to database fDi Intelligence.
But signalling Brazil’s ongoing economic struggle – as well as that of the rest of the region – this investment was spread across just two projects. Other financial centres also attracted just a handful of projects, and with much reduced capital expenditure.
Rio de Janeiro is the most improved, having not made it into the previous table. Santiago in Chile, which was also missing from the previous ranking, is now in fourth position, on the heels of Mexico City both in terms of total investment and number of projects.
In outward financial services FDI, the top five centres have generated much larger total investments this year than in the previous period. They are led by Quito in Ecuador, with $167m. Total values for the next three hubs hover above the $100m mark, while São Paulo, closing the list, shows a still relatively high $70.6m.
The previous ranking, measuring outflows between September 2016 and August 2017, was topped by Hamilton with $132m – a value comparable to the most recent for Quito. But the distance between the Bermuda hub and second placed Grand Cayman was wide, with the latter chalking up less than half of the former.
