- Latin America/Caribbean: According to preliminary estimates released by UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development), foreign direct investment in Latin America and the Caribbean countries rose 32% in 1999 to USD 97 billion, from 73 billion a year earlier. These figures make these regions the top-ranking recipients of FDI in 1999, ahead of South East Asia, which had held the record since 1986. The South East Asian countries had FDI totalling USD 84 billion in 1999. These results are due to a fourfold increase in investments in Argentina, which rose from 6 billion in 1998 to 25 billion last year, and an ongoing rise in FDI in Brazil (USD 31 billion in 1999, up from 28.5 billion in 1998). To a lesser extent, investors also stepped up their activities in Chile, Ecuador and Peru, essentially through mergers and acquisitions. In contrast, they neglected Colombia and Venezuela.