UPDATE 1-Foreign investment in Chile soars three-fold http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=companyNews&storyid=180127+19-Dec-2006+RTRS
Tue Dec 19, 2006
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SANTIAGO, Dec 19 (Reuters) - The Chilean government authorized direct foreign investment in Chile worth $4.82 billion in 2006, nearly three times as much as in the previous year, the government said on Tuesday.
More than a third of the money was earmarked for electricity, gas and water projects, while just over a quarter went to the mining sector, a mainstay of the Chilean economy.
The service industry accounted for 14.9 percent of the total, while 11.2 percent was destined for transport and communications, the government said.
"This is enormously important, as it shows the confidence that foreign investors have in our country ..." Carlos Eduardo Mena, executive vice-president of the government's Committee for Foreign Investment, said of the 183 percent increase from last year's $1.7 billion sum.
Canadian investments accounted for 60.3 percent of the total, dwarfing those from other countries.
However, this was due primarily to a single transaction -- the purchase in June by a consortium led by Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (BAM.N: Quote, Profile , Research)(BAMa.TO: Quote, Profile , Research) of a 92 percent stake of Chile's largest electricity-transmission company.
The Brookfield consortium bought the Chilean company, HQI Transelec Chile SA, for $1.5 billion, accounting for almost all the direct foreign investment in Chile's electricity sector last year.
Other countries leading investment in Chile were the United States, with a 10.7 percent share of the $4.82 billion total, Germany (8.4 percent), Austria (4 percent) and Spain (3.8 percent).
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