Foreign investment climbs

[NewsWhore]

Direct foreign investment (DFI) for the 2006 fiscal year amounted to US$1.18 billion, according to Maryse Robert, chief of the Trade Section at the Organization of the American States (OAS). This impressive sum represents a 16% increase over 2005. The tourism and telecommunications sectors received the largest part of this investment. The United States, the Netherlands, Canada and Spain were the principal sources of the money. In 2006 the DFI from Spain decreased a bit, while Canada's increased. According to El Caribe, Robert said that the increased investments were the result of legislative reforms, policies to attract investments and the simplification of the paperwork needed to make the investments. During the seminar organized by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Robert warned that there appeared to have been a slowdown in DFI in the Caribbean region, due in part to a lack of an "efficient frame of reference for competitiveness." The economist said that the signatories of the DR-CAFTA agreement should allow for the free flow of investment monies, taking care to be on the lookout for funds linked with what she called "criminal procedures."

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