Canadian companies boost Latin America and Caribbean presence in financial services, mining and manufacturing.

US immigration laws threaten to drive away foreign investors looking to make greenfield investments in the high tech and biotechnology sectors, government officials have warned.

The competition for a $35bn US Air Force contract has been reopened after the initial process, which saw Franco-German firm EADS win the contract, was declared flawed by Congress.

The US presidential campaign is moving toward full velocity, and its rhetoric may have an impact on future conditions for FDI into and out of the US. Several primaries were characterised by what some called pandering to organised labour’s suspicions of foreign trade, particularly NAFTA.

In the final months of the Bush administration, securing trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and Korea are top of the agenda, the US commerce secretary tells Courtney Fingar.

Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger talks exclusively to Courtney Fingar and Lara Williams about why he welcomes challengers to the state’s crown as the global leader in the biotech industry.

As the US presidential race heats up, Courtney Fingar speaks to Douglas Holtz-Eakin, senior policy adviser for Republican candidate John McCain, at campaign headquarters in Virginia.

Soaring gas prices have added fuel to the debate on exploiting the US’s own national reserves. Courtney Fingar reports from Anchorage.

Wireless technology is on the rise in the Latam markets, and leading telecoms companies plan to deploy 3G and triple play in the next decade, reports Jason Mitchell.

Outlook for FDI inflows into Brazil significantly improved by Fitch and S&P investment grade ratings.

They are called millennials, those young adults born in the 1980s and 1990s, now in the 19 to 29 age bracket. As well as having a name, they are the subject of much analysis. Numbering almost 100 million, they are both the entry level and rising supervisory workforce, and they appear to be newly engaged in the US presidential campaign.

General Motors (GM) plans to close four sport-utility vehicle and pick-up truck plants in North America as it focuses on the manufacture of more fuel efficient vehicles in its core US market.

The Dominican Republic expects to receive more than $1.5bn in FDI in 2008 as a result of pan-American trade agreements.

Courtney Fingar talks to Dalton McGuinty, premier of Ontario and 2006 fDi Global Personality of the Year winner, during his May visit to London.

Q  fDi will announce its 2008 Personalities of the Year in its next issue. What challenges do you think the winners are facing that might be different from 2006, and what would be your advice?
A  The pace of change has only accelerated. We have moved into an era of globalisation and we are not exactly sure how this global economy works. For example, we are experiencing a US economic slowdown.

While other US procurement service companies compete for business in the saturated domestic market, Industrial Motion has found a profitable niche: supplying offshore. Karen E Thuermer reports.

Put it down to American ingenuity. Just because US manufacturers move manufacturing operations overseas does not mean that they have to lose the support of US distributors who supply them with spare parts to repair their machinery.

Peru is building up its trade relations with countries around the world, boding well for a big boost to its economy. Lara Williams reports.

With the US property market in the dumps, communities such as Ontario, California, look for ways to ride out the downcycle. Karen E Thuermer reports.

Usiness expansion for Fiat as it plans to relaunch Alfa Romeo and Iveco brands on the North American market.

In presidential campaigns, economic issues are always important but some are connected to other issues, in ways that are not always apparent.

Foreign investors into the US will be under greater national security scrutiny following an amendment to the Foreign Investment and National Security Act, 2007.

The founder of US budget airline JetBlue Airways has announced plans to launch a domestic airline in Brazil next year.

In the final year of her administration, many of the economic, environmental and educational reforms put in place by Delaware’s governor are bearing fruit, allowing the small state to punch well above its weight, says Karen E Thuermer.

Rio Tinto Minerals is weighing up a lucrative new investment in a Mendoza Potash mine but the Argentine government’s new tax on mineral exports and the country’s questionable energy reserves complicate matters, says Jason Mitchell.

John Rumsey reports on a new generation of firms in Latin America that are breaking free from old traditions.

South Carolina chosen for Jafza International’s logistics park due to its proximity to Panama Canal shipping routes.

New York is focusing on improving global competitiveness by poaching a top London regional development agency executive to head a business advocacy group.

Financial analysis firm Experian has opened its first Latin American office in Santiago, Chile.

The US dollar’s fall in value over the past five years and the more recent uneasiness in credit markets have combined to favour direct investment by operating companies over financial buyers. With the dollar’s plunge, euro-based production costs and pricing are seriously disadvantaged in the US market.

The governor of Puerto Rico talks to Lillie Guyer about his plans to cement Puerto Rico’s position as a leading hub of biotech, life sciences and aerospace, starting with a 20-year development project called Science City.

US universities are transferring some of their skills abroad by setting up medical schools. Karen E Thuermer reports on the benefits and risks.

California’s status as the undisputed leader for film location and production is under threat from rival states as well as countries such as Canada and the UK, reports Karen E Thuermer.

The environment, safety and security, and globalisation and its impact on direct investment were three areas of concern and opportunity that mayors from across North, Central and South America examined at the second annual Mayors Hemispheric Forum in Chicago.

Huge upgrade of Quebec city plant includes installation of new equipment and creation of additional floor space.

German tyre producer Continental has begun construction of an electronic car-part plant in Costa Rica, with plans to invest more than $60m in the first year of operations.

US secretary of commerce Carlos M Gutierrez has released a policy paper on business visas and FDI that suggests ways of improving the efficiency, user-friendliness, and timeliness of the entry process.

After listening to investors’ needs and addressing concerns over the perceived risks, Colombia has developed new tools to make the country more attractive, trade minister Luis Guillermo Plata tells Juan Pablo Raymond.

As Chinese firms seek a stronger foothold in North America, economic developers seeking a slice of the investment must move fast, write Nan Yin and James Ku.

Although tax breaks and financial incentives may be in the spotlight when companies make their location decisions, ‘softer’ incentives could make the crucial difference, writes Erika Morphy.

Dallas logistical hub aims to serve as a primary pipeline for distribution of goods throughout the nation.

The Beacon Council, Miami-Dade County’s official economic development partnership, has announced the completion of six new projects, representing a combined $15.2m in new capital investment and 153 jobs over the next three years in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Ontario Drive & Gear (ODG), has said it will build a 16,500 square-foot addition to its 40,000 square-foot gear division plant and administrative building in New Hamburg, Ontario. Construction is slated for completion in January 2008.

There has been a lot of notoriety about the growth and managers’ rewards associated with hedge and private equity funds, but relatively less attention has been paid to the even greater growth in sovereign-wealth funds – the assets that countries pile up.

São Paulo mayor Gilberto Kassab tells Jason Mitchell that new rules allowing public-private partnerships for the Brazilian city’s infrastructure projects offer foreign companies abundant opportunities to invest.

Hazel McCallion is proactive, pro-business and believes in building industry clusters. Karen Thuermer reports on the 86 year old Mississauga mayor , who is one of the longest serving mayors in Canada.

Quebec’s Cirque du Soleil shows that large sums can be made from investment in the arts, writes Courtney Fingar.

Does political hue matter to businesses? As Michigan acquires a new tax, Erika Morphy finds the stereotype of Democrat and Republican does not fit the reality.

Bolivia’s FDI flows, which had fallen in recent years, are picking up and in spite of tensions with foreign mining firms, terms have been agreed in many parts of the sector. Hugh O’Shaughnessy explains.

At the start of this decade, two-thirds of Goldman Sachs’ revenue was earned in the US. In the first half of 2007, less than half came from the US, and, for the first time, more was earned internationally than at home.

In March, the US Department of Commerce announced an Invest in America campaign, and in May the US Treasury and the White House gave FDI into the US an additional endorsement – the first policy statement at this level since 1990. Among other facts, the government is recognising that more than five million people in the US work for ‘foreign’ subsidiaries.

More and more money is going into the biofuels industry, in the US and worldwide – yet perhaps not necessarily to best effect.

As US president George W Bush began his dialogue with a new and Democratic Congress, he sought to focus their attention on some issues of paramount concern, including energy and health care insurance.