Around 76% of Spanish companies interested in the region expect to keep on investing in Latin America during 2017.

Data shows that Spanish companies trust the medium and long-term, even though a change of pattern in the type of investment has been registered. The main cause of investments will be organic growth (64%) in already functioning operations instead of the purchase of local assets of other companies.

The most valued economies by Spanish companies are Peru, which has a macroeconomic environment that scores 4.02 over 5 (and has an improvement of 0.35 points); Colombia, with a score of 3.94 (+0.20) or Chile (+0.12). Panama (3.69) and Mexico (3.67), keep on having good scores, even though they decreased a little bit in comparison to 2016.

The markets where the Spanish investment will grow the most during 2017 are: Colombia, Chile, Peru, Mexico and Argentina. Followed by Brazil, Panama, Dominican Republic and Costa Rica.

Argentina has a score of 3.30 over 5, and has grown 0.49 points, showing an increase of trust when compared to the previous year. Brazil also shows improvements, reaching 2.89 points, with an increase of 0.46 points.

The main concerns of Spanish companies in Latin America for 2017 will the exchange rate –particularly in Argentina, Colombia and Mexico- and the economic slowdown -in Argentina, Chile and Mexico.

Spanish investments in the region have a direct impact on employment.