Most people are well aware that the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries are big recipients of foreign direct investment (FDI). But they are also big sources of FDI.

In 2009, for the first time, emerging market outbound mergers and acquisitions (M&A) flows outpaced inbound M&A flows, reaching US$131.8bn, according to Dealogic. Most of these [Read more...]

A region which traditionally received only little coverage is being considered an option by an increasing number of foreign investors. Richard Hamilton, BMI’s Latin America analyst, explains why interest in the region is growing, and whether Central America should be considered a viable option for foreign investors.

 

 Standard Podcast [12:09m]
Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Global politics and commerce have long been centred on major basins, starting with the Mediterranean, then shifting to the Atlantic and later the Pacific oceans. In recent years, the Indian Ocean has emerged as the focus of a new geopolitical competition and a realm for promoting ‘South-South’ trade and investment, especially between China-India and Africa. [Read more...]

With the return of ousted President Manuel Zelaya to Honduras following June’s military coup, we examine how the political stalemate is likely to unfold over the coming days and weeks, and why events in this small Central American country have taken on such regional importance.

 

 Standard Podcast [9:21m]
Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Among other things, I’m just wrapping up a three-day working trip to Istanbul, where I participated in an investor’s conference focusing on the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region as well as met BMI clients to discuss views from the ground level. I figured I would take the opportunity while I’m waiting for my flight [Read more...]

At the end of April, Risk Watchdog went to the ‘Invest Iraq’ conference in London. It was attended by several hundred representatives from a broad range of companies, and a large chunk of the Iraqi government, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (who gave the keynote speech), was there. The delegates were very ‘on message’ and [Read more...]

The US Q1 GDP numbers released yesterday were, bluntly put, a horror show. They were not, however, wholly unexpected by yours truly — I had expected a slightly better but still dismal outturn compared with Q408’s -6.3% q-o-q annualised number. And that’s basically what we got: a -6.1% reading.

Have a look at the underlying numbers. [Read more...]