FDI in Honduras was almost 535 million dollars at the end of the first nine months of 2025. This information was shared recently by the country’s central bank.

Foreign investment in Honduras in 2025 was received unevenly throughout the year. During the first three months, the country collected 294.7 million dollars. In the second quarter, it received 129.2 million, and between July and September, the Central Bank of Honduras (BCH) obtained 110.9 million.

According to the BCH, in comparative terms, until September of 2025, foreign investment in Honduras decreased by 11.28% from the same period in 2024, when it totaled 602.8 million dollars.

The authority mentioned that to achieve the expectation set for this year, to collect more than the 993.9 million dollars that entered the country’s coffers during 2024, the last quarter must have a new pace of investments.

Foreign investment in Honduras in 2025: A year of adjustment and opportunity

Honduras received around 534.8 million dollars during the first three quarters of 2025. This total represents an 11.28% drop compared to the same period in 2024, when it collected 602.8 million dollars, which indicates that to reach the forecast set for the current year, to obtain more than 993.9 million dollars registered in 2024, it would be necessary to have an uptick in investment in the last quarter of the year.

Knowing the trends of foreign investment in Honduras in 2025

How has the performance of each sector been, and how is the structural transformation being reshaped?

In its quarterly analysis, the Central Bank of Honduras (BCH) described how each sector performed in the third quarter of 2025, and how foreign investment in Honduras is helping to reshape the nation’s economy.

The financial and insurance activities sector, with its $182.2 million, was propelled by reinvested earnings and an increase in the equity of foreign-controlled banks, who see Honduras as an ideal springboard to expand throughout Central America and consolidate financial intermediation.

The subsector of transportation, storage, and communications generated new foreign investment inflows of $147.6 million, as multinational companies advanced the modernization of the ports, the distribution and logistics centers, and the country’s digital backbone, all of which are essential to competitiveness. These commitments reflect how foreign investment in Honduras can be leveraged to increase productivity throughout the supply chain, lower logistics costs, and gain access to new technologies.

Investment and profit repatriation, the challenge

On the other hand, the manufacturing sector recorded a contraction of $178.8 million due to the repatriation of dividends that corporations opted for rather than reinvesting their earnings locally. This change more closely reflects a decision by the boards of directors of Honduran companies than a sign of operational decline. Still, it does point to a challenge that remains: making the most of the profits generated in the country.

The maquiladora industry also lost $84.8 million as account receivables grew and capital contributions fell. Global rebalancing of supply chains, uncertainty among consumers and tighter financial conditions have led companies to take a wait-and-see approach that has postponed expansion plans until it is clearer how external demand will recover.

Foreign Investment in Honduras in 2025: Where the Capital is Coming From

North America: A transitory reduction

Foreign direct investment in Honduras in 2925 from North America decreased by $101.3 million in the third quarter, as U.S.-owned maquila companies preferred to redirect cash flows and hold receivables abroad, and Mexican-owned corporations increased dividend repatriation.

Although this has an adverse short-term effect on the numbers, North America will remain the most important region of origin for foreign investment due to geographical proximity, trade preferences, and nearshoring potential.

Central America and the Caribbean: Strategic consolidation

Central American investors represented $46.8 million of the net flows, mainly from Guatemalan companies that chose to reinvest their profits in financial services, commerce, and manufacturing. Familiarity, shared markets, and cross-border partnerships will continue to strengthen ties in the years to come.

The Caribbean registered $43.5 million thanks to an increase in liabilities with related firms in the transportation, storage, and communications sectors and reinvested earnings of Virgin Islands companies that have operations in mining and energy generation. These figures show how corporate networks, rather than country-specific strategies, are increasingly the way investment decisions are being made in the region.

Latin America outside the region

Countries in the rest of the Americas also contributed $165.3 million to the total, especially Colombia and Panama. This capital was channeled to support financial operations and utilities such as electricity and water. Many of the companies that invest from these countries tend to be long-term infrastructure investors, which means they reinforce stability and continuity even in periods of greater global uncertainty.

Why FDI in Honduras matters for long-term growth

Asia, Europe, and new routes to explore

Investors from Asia and Oceania made commitments that totaled $18.8 million, mainly via an increase in liabilities with subsidiaries and reinvested earnings in telecommunications, electricity, and energy generation. These flows, small relative to those of the big investors, show a gradual diversification of partners and a growing perception that Honduras could become a bridge between continents in logistics and manufacturing activities.

Europe posted a net outflow of $89.8 million, also related to lower reinvested profits in the manufacturing sector. Lower growth rates in Europe, higher financing costs, and corporate restructuring were part of the equation that led companies to make those capital allocation decisions.

The legal environment: one of the most important tools

To the extent that today’s foreign investment in Honduras reflects a movement towards an economy in which services, financial intermediation and infrastructure play a more relevant role, the policies needed to capitalize on these changes are focused on simplifying administrative procedures, offering a more predictable tax treatment, improving security conditions, ensuring stable supply of electricity, as well as modernizing ports, roads and telecommunications systems.

The reforms intended to encourage companies to reinvest their profits domestically instead of sending them abroad should, if implemented effectively, help anchor sustainable foreign investment in Honduras in the years to come, thus boosting employment and innovation.

The main opportunities for the future of FDI in Honduras

Renewable energies, logistics corridors, added value to agriculture, and higher value-added manufacturing

In the long term, Honduras has significant, untapped potential in several strategic areas, such as renewable energy development, logistics corridors that connect to regional trade, the productive upgrading of agriculture that moves production up the value chain, and higher-value-added manufacturing, including electronics, medical devices, and automotive components.

Public-private partnerships and transparent concession frameworks will be key to turning these opportunities into stable capital inflows and long-term infrastructure improvements.

Strategies to promote foreign investment in Honduras

Institutional credibility and human capital development

In order to obtain greater and more continuous capital flows over time, Honduras must continue with the deepening of institutional reforms. Investors look at the financial feasibility of projects, but they also assess the predictability of the rules, the efficiency of the judicial system, and the effectiveness of contract enforcement.

Equally important is the country’s human capital. A technical training expansion, bilingual education, and digital skills will allow companies to find qualified labor and, at the same time, help workers access better-paying jobs. Stronger labor productivity will increase the rate of return on foreign investment in Honduras, making the country more competitive compared to other regional economies.

Outlook: between risks and opportunities

A reality check with the future in sight

Uncertainty, fluctuating interest rates, and geopolitical tensions in global financial markets will continue to condition capital flows. However, Honduras is in a better position than in previous cycles, due to the improvement in the management of public finances, the deepening of regional integration, and the strengthening of a logistics and financial services ecosystem.

If the government manages to sustain its reforms – and the companies receive credible signals of continuity – it is possible that Honduras can gradually regain its pace and attract new capital. The great challenge will be to convert episodic inflows into a pipeline of stable projects that create employment, bring new technology, and integrate local suppliers.

In that sense, the next phase of foreign investment in Honduras will depend as much on domestic decisions as on external conditions and trends. With disciplined planning and a clear vision of an investment strategy, the country can use these ups and downs to its advantage in its development.

Uruguay and Costa Rica have historically advanced from different starting points with different strategic priorities. Costa Rica’s emergence as a destination for digital talent and investment has been more rapid and visible. On the other hand, Uruguay is engaged in a more deliberate, institution-led development of its own. This is a story of scale vs. depth, where political history, geography, and time zones play a decisive role — all of which shape the evolving digital economies of Uruguay and Costa Rica and are gradually redefining them for the next decade.

Uruguay’s Approach: Patient Digital Sovereignty in Small Scale

In Uruguay, efforts to develop a home-grown digital industry tend to be more gradual and institutional.

• Uruguay develops its digital ecosystem organically and incrementally.
• Public digital identity, eGovernment, telecom, data services, and open data are all areas of strategic focus for the state.
• Leaders see domestic development and economic sovereignty as prerequisites for deeper growth in the knowledge economy. “The data is our oil,” the former Vice President said in a public forum. In theory, this preference for control yields long-term advantages:
• Reduced dependence on outside leadership and decision-making.
• Domestic digital corporations add local content, innovation, and ownership into the value chain. “Uruguay owns its processes completely from soup to nuts,” one senior business leader told me in an interview.
• Room to establish strategic autonomy around technology, data, and education. The state controls the telecom network and data storage; generates its own data sets (census, health, education, tax, business registries) through extensive civil registration; and collects tax revenue with one of the highest digital penetration rates in the region.

In practice, the more robust the oversight, the more slowly the knowledge ecosystem develops — a recurring trade-off shaping the digital economies of Uruguay and Costa Rica and influencing how they evolve at home.

Uruguay’s big bet remains strengthening home-grown startups and attracting corporate development that can accelerate onshore capacity-building. A nascent but promising example is joint investment in higher education and cloud infrastructure between a major regional corporation (Grupo H y H) and a global cloud provider (AWS).

Costa Rica’s Approach: Integrated Operations with Scale

In Costa Rica, digital industry development has been relatively rapid and occurred with the strong participation of outside firms.

• Industrial policy aims at serving the needs of global supply chains through facilities with as few obstacles as possible, high predictability, and cost competitiveness.
• Infrastructure is state-of-the-art, including advanced telecom, cloud, and near-shore energy. Governance is aligned with the needs of global firms, often with a bottom-up prioritization of corporate rather than citizen needs.

This has established Costa Rica as a leading “plug-and-play” destination for digital work. Costa Rica has now closed the gap with India in employment for global call centers and back-office processing, and is better positioned to capture a share of global R&D. However, the heavy dependence on corporate leadership has limits: changing demographics, lower growth, and the movement of talent to less taxing, less expensive, or more innovative ecosystems could strain this business-friendly model. These pressures also highlight structural questions about the future digital economy in Uruguay and Costa Rica — and how they can remain competitive in an increasingly crowded landscape.

Speed and Scale: Convenience Comes at a Cost?

Historically, a premium has been paid for a plug-and-play digital economy in the region. Incentive structures and macroeconomic stability have been more or less successful in attracting large companies to use Costa Rica as a digital hub.

Costa Rica is among the top five technology exporters in the region in both total sales and value added in services and intermediate links, ahead of Colombia and Brazil.

However, the critical question for Costa Rica is whether its primary role as an operational hub can evolve toward greater value creation (technological authorship) and ownership. For Uruguay, the key challenge is maintaining its sovereignty without forgoing the scale that matters for earning its place at the decision-making table in global digital value chains. As AI and next-generation technologies shape new generations of productivity tools, large tech platforms, and connectivity infrastructures, the room to maneuver within a fixed digital specialization may narrow.

Where Do Costa Rica and Uruguay Meet?

Despite their different approaches, several common themes and strategic questions have arisen across conversations in both countries:

• Efforts to grow local digital capacity continue to be hampered by insufficient state investment in education and significant churn in the talent pool. Salaries and professional recognition are often low relative to the region’s primary talent markets (especially the U.S. for Costa Rica, Argentina for Uruguay). A lack of mid-career opportunities for advancing digital talent and burnout after a few years in core tech jobs are key challenges to retention and building critical mass locally.
• Costa Rica benefits from a longer runway to absorb labor force decline, especially in mid-sized corporate talent that is inexpensive to source from other Latin American countries.
• Uruguay’s institutional brand and less transient nature of knowledge work are also potentially competitive advantages in retaining its local talent base. Talent is not just a workforce issue — it is a matter of technological authorship, creativity, and innovation. Institutions and strategies of economic statecraft — both public and private — remain the competitive differentiators for retaining or building access to digital value creation.

Scaling the digital value chain in the Southern Cone is an ecosystem-building game — that is, establishing the right foundations to benefit from predictable processes and institutional support from government agencies, telecom and data providers, capital, and a predictable social environment. These factors matter more than business incentives in the short term. In the long term, they are also key to the extent to which domestic innovation can emerge in these ecosystems, enabling both more complex operations and exports of digital services with higher levels of national ownership.

Emerging Technologies as a New Generation of Development Strategy

AI, hybrid cloud, and connectivity are the next frontier in technological specialization in Southern Cone economies. While strategies will vary, all countries in the region are seeking to develop a position that gives them room for maneuver as larger economies and actors shape the next generation of digital productivity and technology platforms:

• Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico have the most potential to play a more significant role in setting strategic standards for these sectors globally.
• Uruguay’s emphasis on data, digital identity, and eGovernment could allow it to punch above its weight, especially with a mix of public and private champions in the regional market.
• Costa Rica’s agility, responsiveness, and corporate experience are the competitive factors that could allow it to integrate itself more deeply into emerging technology platforms — if strategic autonomy can also be carved out at the company and ecosystem levels.

New technologies hold the key to structural change in the digital economy in Uruguay and Costa Rica. Skills are at the heart of strategies in both countries, whether in business development, eGovernment, telecom, innovation, or tax revenue generation — reinforcing how central the digital economy in Uruguay and Costa Rica has become to their long-term development visions.

Do Costa Rica and Uruguay have the Willingness and Capacity to Work More Closely Together?

Costa Rica and Uruguay are natural regional peers in seeking to position themselves in global digital value chains. However, direct competition for investment and talent acquisition, weak regional ecosystems, and a reliance on U.S. markets and cloud infrastructure have precluded deeper collaboration to date.

Digital ID, connectivity, cloud services, data generation, and education each present an opportunity to do things together at a regional level, leveraging scale and learning from differences.

Collaboration on new technologies and more complex digital exports can be a two-way street, with advantages in different areas for each country. Strengthening these partnerships could accelerate the digital economy in Uruguay and Costa Rica in ways neither country could easily accomplish alone.

For Uruguay, areas of possible partnership include telecom (Uruguay is developing an ambitious plan to manufacture equipment using OSM, which Costa Rica can also participate in), cloud sovereignty, cybersecurity, startups, and foreign direct investment. Costa Rica could support regional priorities in data sovereignty, cybersecurity, and education, as well as in attracting international trade and investment to scale digital capacity. Costa Rica has many of the elements needed to be a technology hub for Costa Rican-based and Uruguay-based enterprises. At the same time, in other areas, the country has proven that it can do things on its own: eGovernment, content creation, data generation for enterprises, state-funded broadband, free education, and telehealth. There is still much to be learned, and areas in which both countries can expand their cooperation for mutual benefit — especially as the digital economy in Uruguay and Costa Rica becomes even more interconnected.

Costa Rica went from exporting four main products in the 1980s to 4,300 today.

The transformation of the export structure

Costa Rica has gone from exporting four main products in the 1980s to offering 4,300 products to the world today.

Over the years, Costa Rica has fundamentally transformed its export structure in a remarkably short period of time. From an economy that depended on a small number of agricultural exports, the country today sends more than 4,300 products to 150 different markets. It has an international presence that is growing not only in volume but also in sophistication and diversification.

The evolution in the export basket is notable. From pineapple, bananas, coffee, and root vegetables –whose quality has given the country a place of strong worldwide leadership– to medical devices and knowledge-intensive services such as information and communication technologies, finance, cybersecurity, and other areas of the fourth industrial revolution, the diversity of goods and services reflect how economic diversification in Costa Rica has generated higher productivity, better-paid jobs, and a place for the country as a reliable partner in global value chains.

Transforming a basket of products is one thing, but turning it into a successful, strategic, and sustainable story is another. This achievement is more than a number. It is the product of a historic process of openness, strategic vision, institutional rigor, and a profound productive metamorphosis. Above all, it is the capacity that Costa Rica has had to open new markets, address their needs, and establish trade relationships with the world’s main economic blocs.

The journey and the first steps

For decades, Costa Rica prepared the foundations for this type of modern growth. It built and consolidated a trade-liberalization policy that integrated the country with dynamic economies; strengthened public institutions, investing in human capital and preparing to receive high-quality foreign investment. The country’s social stability, universal education system, and environmental sustainability commitment became attractive magnets for international companies seeking safe and responsible places to make their investments.

Simultaneously, a commercial promotion framework was built that made it possible to understand global trends, identify business opportunities, and support companies in meeting the requirements of increasingly sophisticated markets. The diversification that is celebrated today is the result of coherent decisions, technical work, and constant dialogue with the business sector. This path proves that economic diversification in Costa Rica has not been the product of chance, but a policy-driven process.

The principal actor: The private sector

In this journey, Costa Rica’s private sector has been the leading actor. Thousands of companies, ranging from small agro-industrial businesses to large companies in advanced manufacturing and services, worked to modernize their processes, invest in technology, adapt to new regulations, explore niches in nascent markets, and take risks in markets that seemed geographically distant.

Each certification achieved, productive reconversion made possible, pilot shipment, and operational adjustment helped to build the country’s reputation as a supplier of high-quality, reliable, innovative, and capable of competing in high-value-added segments. The diversification of markets also has a story of entrepreneurial courage: that of businesses that decided to use the tools available to them and transform them into real opportunities for growth.

PROCOMER, in support of business

Accompanying the country’s business community throughout this process has been Costa Rica’s investment and trade promotion agency, PROCOMER. This institution has evolved from being solely an export window to becoming a comprehensive platform for productive development and strategic intelligence.

Tools and information systems have been designed to guide business decisions. Mechanisms to strengthen productive linkages have been put in place. Certification and productive transformation services that open the doors of demanding markets have been created. Strategies have been articulated to understand and respond to global consumer trends, and initiatives have been launched to drive added value. These efforts have been crucial in achieving deeper economic diversification in Costa Rica, especially in segments such as life sciences, agritech, digital services, and advanced manufacturing.

An international network that opens doors

Complementing the tools for generating value, PROCOMER has a solid network of international offices that function as extensions of the agency in more than 40 markets, as well as advisory services for trade facilitation and the efficient administration of the free-trade-zone regime. All of these tools and actions have one clear objective: to facilitate business operations, simplify procedures, and open more markets.

Costa Rica began a process of export diversification nearly 30 years ago. The results are in the data: going from four main exports in the 1980s to having a presence in 4,300 products in the country today. Although the leading trading partner continues to be North America, other regions of the world, such as Europe, Central America, and Asia, have attained an increasingly relevant role.

Beyond exports: the competitiveness platform

Today, Costa Rica not only has a history to celebrate but also a solid platform that enables it to project even more ambitious visions. The country has talent, reputation, strong institutions, and a business sector that has repeatedly demonstrated its capacity to innovate and adapt to new market niches.

Universities and technical institutes continue to make efforts to adapt their training to the areas of greatest demand. In the same way, companies are already beginning to collaborate more in the areas of research, development, and innovation. In this context, PROCOMER is betting on an even more ambitious stage of diversification: the expansion of the organization’s physical presence in priority markets, the consolidation of more sophisticated sector portfolios, the promotion of emerging technologies, and the strengthening of tools and capabilities to compete in complex global value chains.

The next stage: emerging markets and new opportunities

Opportunities and challenges for the future

The challenges ahead require Costa Rica to be prepared to be flexible and agile, and to continue investing in infrastructure, digital connectivity, workforce upskilling, and modernization of the regulatory framework. With the appropriate strategic planning, economic diversification in Costa Rica will be able to continue minimizing its vulnerability to external shocks and promote more inclusive growth throughout the country’s regions.

Sustainability remains one of the guiding principles for Costa Rica, whose long-standing commitment to renewable energy, environmental protection, and climate-resilient production, give the country a unique competitive narrative in international markets where responsible sourcing and ethical production are increasingly valued.

The path continues

Costa Rica’s progress is undeniable, but it does not end here. Costa Rica must continue to design and implement modern policies that strengthen domestic industry, promote foreign direct investment, focus on the development of human resources, and, at the same time, work to improve the country’s overall competitiveness. Only then will the country be able to continue advancing along the path of diversification and prove once again that economic diversification in Costa Rica is not just a strategy but a long-term national commitment.

The Dominican Republic will close the year 2025 with one of the strongest performances in the history of tourism in the country. December, which traditionally represents one of the busiest months for the sector, is already showing figures that are unprecedented. They confirm its regional leadership and its increasing weight in the international market. But beyond numbers, these achievements are also the product of coordinated efforts between the public and private sectors in the last few years to make the country more accessible, attractive, and resilient.

In the first 17 days of December, the country has registered 390,000 air arrivals of tourists. An important volume that represents a growth of 11% year over year with respect to the same period in 2024. An even more revealing figure in relation to the pre-pandemic period, since it is estimated that the increase over 2019 reaches 60%, consolidating the sector’s full recovery and its structural expansion. The figures reflect a sustained phase of strategic growth of tourism in the Dominican Republic, beyond recovery mode.

Tourism Minister David Collado made the announcement at the inauguration of a new parking area for visitors at the Bayahíbe Beach, an important tourist destination that has gained even more visitors in recent months on the country’s east coast. The project strengthens tourism infrastructure and road safety in one of the most visited seaside areas. In addition to improving traffic flows, it provides safer access for locals and international travelers alike.

December May Be Best Tourism Month Ever Recorded

Official forecasts indicate that December 2025 will be the best month ever registered for tourism in the country. For the first time, the Dominican Republic is expected to exceed 900,000 arrivals by air in a single month. A new record that not only reflects the strength of international demand, but also the destination’s growing operational capacity to receive more visitors. Airlines have been increasing frequencies, new routes have been opened from the United States, Europe, and South America, and major tour operators continue to position the Dominican Republic as a flagship destination in the Caribbean.

The strong performance is supported by a trend of sustained growth in cruise tourism. For its part, the Ministry of Tourism estimates that more than 400,000 visitors will arrive by sea during December, setting another record. The cruise port of La Romana, operated by Casa de Campo Central Romana, has become one of the most important in the region. While new cruise facilities in other areas of the country continue to be strengthened to diversify maritime connectivity. These developments reflect how tourism in the Dominican Republic is diversifying its offer beyond traditional resort stays to include short-stay cruise travelers who significantly impact local economies.

These figures do not just benefit hotels. They stimulate transportation services, increase demand for restaurants and local gastronomy, create jobs in tour operations, and generate opportunities for micro and small businesses that sell crafts, excursions, and cultural experiences. In many communities, revenue from tourism is channeled directly into local commerce, thus supporting thousands of families.

Tourism Boom: Infrastructure and Vision to Position the Country Globally

Minister Collado highlighted that the boom is not just a numerical achievement. It is the result of a long-term strategy focused on infrastructure, promotion, innovation and national pride. Investments such as the new parking lot for visitors in Bayahíbe, which has space for 58 buses, 157 light vehicles, and 58 motorcycles, can be modest compared to luxury hotel developments. But they significantly improve logistics, visitor experience, and safety.

Projects like these are part of a broader effort to modernize access roads, improve signage, expand airport services, and coordinate more effectively among emergency and security agencies. All this adds up to a perception of reliability, one of the most important factors when choosing where to vacation. But Collado also emphasized the importance of strengthening an image linked to entrepreneurship, creativity, and hospitality. Increasingly, travelers look for destinations that combine natural beauty with authentic cultural experiences. For this reason, tourism in the Dominican Republic is now positioning itself not only with its beaches and resorts, but also with its music, gastronomy, heritage towns, ecotourism experiences, and community tourism initiatives in rural areas.

December Record Crowns an Extraordinary 2025 Year for Tourism

The record in December crowns an extraordinary year in general. From the beginning of 2025, the country has set one record after another. In January alone, the Dominican Republic received 1,155,484 visitors. An increase of 53% compared to 2019 and 8% over 2024.

By the end of the first quarter, cumulative arrivals reached 3,348,716, reflecting strong growth in air arrivals and cruise tourism. At the midpoint of the year, totals surpassed 6,145,008 visitors, the highest number ever registered for that period. Growth continued at a steady pace during the second half of the year, demonstrating consistency and avoiding seasonal spikes. By August, cumulative arrivals had already exceeded 8 million. By November, the totals had reached 10,284,251 visitors.

These figures position the country to close the year with more than 11 million visitors. Reaffirming its status as one of the most competitive and sought-after destinations in the Caribbean. But it has also encouraged new investments in hotels, airports, renewable energy integration in resorts, and modern waste-management systems to help preserve coastal environments.

Tourism authorities also emphasize progress in training programs for hospitality workers, the modernization of digital promotion strategies, and the strengthening of agreements with international airlines. All of these actions ensure that tourism in the Dominican Republic continues to grow in a sustainable and well-planned way.

Beyond the Numbers: Long-Term Economic and Social Impact

The effects go beyond the statistics of tourism activity. Strong demand from visitors is reinforcing air and maritime connectivity, encouraging the modernization of infrastructure, and promoting economic diversification. In this regard, new businesses, from transportation startups to local tour guides, emerge in the areas that make up tourism corridors. While existing companies expand operations in response to greater demand.

On the social side, tourism has generated thousands of formal jobs and has also helped to boost entrepreneurship among young people and women, especially in coastal communities. Programs that promote community-based tourism and responsible environmental practices are also helping ensure that local residents are the direct beneficiaries of economic opportunities while natural resources are protected.

In short, the historic record in December is not an isolated fact. It ratifies a long-term trend that is redefining the scope of tourism in the Dominican Republic and positioning the country firmly on the global tourism map for years to come.

Growing Chinese Economic Presence in the Region

Direct investment from the Asian country in Latin America reached 14.71 billion dollars in 2024. This figure reflects not only the magnitude of capital flows but also the consolidation of a long-term strategy that combines trade, infrastructure, technology, and energy. China has established itself as a commercial partner for multiple Latin American countries, such as Brazil and Argentina, and has expanded its presence with emblematic projects like the Port of Chancay in Peru — an expansion that has generated new frictions with the United States and reshaped parts of the region’s geopolitical balance. For many analysts, Chinese investment in Latin America has become a structural component of the continent’s economic landscape.

Strategic Infrastructure and Supply Chains

That port, inaugurated last year to connect South America directly with China, joins other initiatives such as automobile factories in Mexico and Brazil, copper and iron mines in Chile, railway projects in Argentina, and lithium operations in the triangle formed by that country, Bolivia, and Chile. These investments do not merely seek natural resources; they aim to create logistical hubs that reduce costs, bring markets closer together, and increase the competitiveness of regional exports.

According to China’s Ministry of Commerce, direct investment from the Asian country in Latin America reached 14.71 billion dollars in 2024. Data from the National Autonomous University of Mexico show that, between 2010 and 2019, this inflow of capital exceeded that of the previous decade. However, since the pandemic, the pace has slowed due to global uncertainty, logistical restrictions, and adjustments in Beijing’s priorities.

Long-Term Interest and Growth Expectations

As early as 2011, Jin Liqun — then president of China Investment Corporation, a sovereign wealth fund with about 1.57 trillion yuan in assets and tasked with investing abroad — expressed his “optimism” about growth in Latin America and announced that investments in the region would “increase,” pointing specifically to opportunities in countries such as Brazil, Chile, and Colombia. Those remarks anticipated a trend that today spans sectors as diverse as energy, telecommunications, agriculture, and finance.

However, what was initially perceived as a search for new markets and profitable investments is now viewed in Washington as a “strategic threat,” according to William Jackson, chief emerging-markets economist at the British consultancy Capital Economics. In his analysis, Chinese investment in Latin America has implications that go beyond trade, introducing new dependencies, political alignments, and negotiating room for Latin American governments vis-à-vis the United States.

Geopolitical Competition and the Shadow of the Monroe Doctrine

In a report published this year, Jackson argues that the region could become the stage for a revival — this time with China as the main actor — of the Monroe Doctrine, through which the United States sought to limit European influence in the Americas during the 19th century. The difference today is that Latin American countries, to a greater extent, seek to diversify their partners in order to secure better terms, attract technology, and reduce vulnerabilities, even if that increases competition among great powers.

A New Roadmap for the Future

This month, Beijing released a new official roadmap for Latin America and the Caribbean — its third since 2008 — stating that China and the region share “broad development prospects.” More specifically, Chinese authorities see opportunities in artificial intelligence, telecommunications, renewable energy, hydrogen, mining, and mineral processing. They also propose boosting projects in transportation, logistics, housing, electricity, and urban development under the umbrella of the Belt and Road Initiative, which several countries in the region have joined.

The document also mentions tourism initiatives — China has granted visa-free entry to visitors from Argentina, Peru, and Chile — as well as greater use of local currencies in cross-border transactions, together with dialogue among regulators and central banks. Financially, Argentina stands out for its currency-swap agreement with China, which has been crucial in stabilizing reserves and supporting external payments, and was partially renewed this year.

Trade in Transition and Sectoral Effects

Latin America has become a priority market for China’s foreign trade, alongside Southeast Asia and Africa, particularly in a context of tariff tensions with the United States. Through November, while exports to the U.S. fell by 18 percent, those destined for Latin American countries rose by nearly 8 percent, reaching roughly 276 billion dollars — equivalent to 70 percent of what the world’s largest economy buys from the Asian giant.

Over the past two decades, Chinese exports have risen nearly eleven-fold, mainly in manufactured goods and, more recently, electric vehicles in markets such as Brazil. In the opposite direction, Latin America exports primarily iron, copper, soybeans, and oil — reinforcing a pattern in which China imports raw materials and exports higher-value goods. For some governments, this opens opportunities; for others, it raises concerns about a renewed dependence on primary commodities.

Dependencies, Opportunities, and Caution

The countries with the greatest exposure are Chile, Brazil, and Peru, each sending more than 25 percent of its exports to China. Even so, Capital Economics warns against “overstating China’s role”: the region exports three times more to the United States than to China, and even excluding Mexico, the volume shipped to the U.S. remains comparable. Jackson emphasizes that “China does not exercise the hegemony often attributed to it. Especially for Mexico and Central America, the United States remains far more important.”

Nevertheless, Chinese investment in Latin America is introducing new productive capacity in sectors such as automobile manufacturing, clean energy, and digitalization, while also upgrading critical infrastructure. The debate, therefore, centers on how to maximize the benefits — jobs, technology transfer, and logistical integration — while avoiding excessive dependence, environmental harm, or unsustainable debt.

Energy Transition and Critical Minerals

The global push toward renewable energy has heightened Chinese interest in lithium, copper, and nickel. In the so-called Lithium Triangle — Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile — Chinese consortia are participating in projects that could shape the global battery supply chain. A similar dynamic is unfolding in solar and wind energy, where Chinese companies provide competitive financing and technology. In this sphere, Chinese investment in Latin America is seen as an accelerator of the energy transition, though local communities demand greater transparency, participation, and environmental guarantees.

Looking Ahead

Looking forward, Latin American governments are trying to balance relations with Washington and Beijing — attracting capital and technology without compromising strategic autonomy. China’s new roadmap suggests a more sophisticated form of cooperation focused on innovation, services, and sustainability. For observers, Chinese investment in Latin America will be a defining element of that equation, both because of its scale and its ability to shape emerging industries.

Ultimately, the challenge for the region is to turn this wave of capital into inclusive development, high-quality infrastructure, and productive diversification. Achieving that goal will depend on solid regulatory frameworks, transparency, and long-term planning that allows the relationship with China — and with other partners — to translate into tangible, lasting benefits for society.