Contrasting results for foreign investment in Asia and America in 2014. UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) has presented contrasting results on foreign direct investment (FDI) in South America, Africa and Asia for 2014. South America is no longer the driver of increasing foreign investment in the Latin America-Caribbean region. FDI has risen by 10% in east and South-East Asia, and by 16% in South Asia but has fallen for the sixth year in a row in the West Asia region. The 2014 results in greater detail: - America: after four consecutive years of increase, FDI in the Latin America-Caribbean region, excluding offshore financial centres, fell by 14% to $159 billion last year. The fall was felt in both sub-regions, but more acutely in the Central America-Caribbean sub-region (down 36% to $39 billion), where FDI has returned to normal levels after the exceptionally high increase in 2013. FDI inflows in South America continued to decline for the second consecutive year, falling 4% to $121 billion, with all the main recipient countries, apart from Chile, recording negative growth. Brazil, which saw its FDI inflows drop slightly for the third year in a row, nevertheless remains the region's principal recipient country, with $62 billion. Chile has moved into second place, its FDI inflows having increased by 38% to $23 billion. Mexico was the third major recipient in the region, though its inflows fell by almost a half to $23 billion. The reduction in investment in the extractive industries hit the FDI inflows of Argentina (down 41%), Peru (down 18%) and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (down 88%). FDI remained stable in Colombia. In Panama, after a strong increase of 56% in 2013, FDI inflows remained at around $5 billion. In Costa Rica they fell by 21% to $2.1 billion, while in Trinidad and Tobago they rose by 21% and in the Dominican Republic by 11%. - Asia: East and South-East Asia - despite the slow-down in economic growth, foreign direct investment in East and South-East Asia increased by 10% last year, reaching a record $381 billion. In East Asia, FDI rose by 12% to $248 billion and in South-East Asia by 5% to $133 billion. In China, FDI increased by 4% to $129 billion. In Hong Kong, it jumped by 39% to $103 billion. Singapore, the largest recipient of FDI in South-East Asia, only saw a rise of 4% to $68 billion, however. The other countries of the sub-region returned widely varying results. Indonesia enjoyed a 20% increase in FDI to around $23 billion. Vietnam saw a 3% rise to $9.2 billion. West Asia - FDI in the sub-region fell for the sixth consecutive year (down 4% to $43 billion). Foreign investment has been falling since 2009 because of the security situation, according to UNCTAD. Turkey, where inflows fell only slightly, by 2% to $12 billion, remained the largest recipient of FDI. While investment in Jordan and Lebanon remained stable, deteriorating security in Iraq cut short a recent resurgence of FDI there. FDI inflows remained sluggish even in the oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, the region's main FDI destination (61% in 2009-2014). Inflows were down by 4% to $22 billion in 2014. Investment in United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia - the region's second and third largest recipients - registered slight declines and remained about $10 billion and $8 billion respectively. South Asia - FDI was worth $41 billion in the sub-region last year, thanks mainly to India, which saw a 22% increase in its inflows to $34 billion. This trend is likely to continue in 2015 with the economic recovery speeding up. In Pakistan, FDI inflows jumped by 31% to $1.7 billion, Sri Lanka also saw a rise in FDI from China which, over the last few years, has become the island's main source of foreign direct investment. (Isabelle Lamberty)