A high number of Latin Americans are concerned about a shortage of jobs, according to the 18-country Latinobarómetro released by The Economist. 45 per cent of respondents in Panama select unemployment as the most important problem, followed by 39 per cent in Uruguay and 37 per cent in Nicaragua.
The Foreign Investment Committee (FIC) reported that in 2006 the amount of foreign investment in Chile reached US$4.815 billion, 183 percent higher than in 2005.
United States producers' prices (wholesale prices) registered last November the biggest increase in three decades, while the housing slump showed signs of bottoming out.
Brazilian manufacturers expressed Tuesday their frustration given the absence of an official reforms agenda to help thrust economic growth next year which is forecasted to be in the range of 3.5%.
The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors approved Tuesday a 6.5 million US dollars loan for Uruguay to support the Foot and Mouth Disease Emergency Recovery Project and create a full-coverage livestock tracking system in order to keep the country virus-free and minimize economic losses.
Bolivian businessmen showed some reticence about their country's full incorporation to Mercosur arguing it was a threat for the local agro-industry and could involve potential farm sales losses to the Community of Andean Nations.
President George W. Bush signed legislation Wednesday extending for six months existent trade benefits to four Andean nations: Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. According to the bill countries that approve free trade agreements, FTA, with the US will have a further six months.
In five years Argentina's recovery from catastrophe has been swift, but the biggest worry now is energy and how long growth can continue, writes The Economist in its latest edition.
Two environmental experts lashed out the Chilean and Argentine governments this week for their failure to address environmental issues currently damaging ecosystems and agriculture on both sides of the Andes.
Representatives from the General Secretariat of Maritime Fisheries (SGPM) and the Spanish General Directorate of Fisheries Resources met with the Argentine lawmaker Silvia Giusti in the Argentine Senate for talks over the bill that tacitly proposes eliminating the so called double permits.