World scientists state that global investments in sustainable agriculture are needed to tackle food insecurity
Nearly one billion people in the world are undernourished, while millions suffer from chronic disease due to excess food consumption. global investments demand is growing for agricultural products and food prices are rising, yet roughly one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted. Climate change threatens more frequent drought, flooding and pest outbreaks, and the world loses 12 million hectares of agricultural land each year to land degradation. Land clearing and inefficient practices…
China and the Inter-American Development Bank launch $1 billion Latam investment fund
China and the Inter-American Development Bank said on Monday they are starting a $1 billion fund to invest in Latin America, though the Asian giant’s latest push to expand its influence in the region prompted words of caution from Brazil. To feed its fast-growing economy’s voracious appetite for raw materials, China has invested tens of billions of dollars in the region, from Mexico to Argentina, over the last decade to acquire strategic assets or companies in sectors such as oil, minerals and food…
Latin America’s infrastructure grows fast
Latin America’s has long been considered a laggard in terms of global infrastructure development, but that perception should be changing. Countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Peru, and Puerto Rico have all begun major long-term infrastructure projects ranging from roads to dams to telecommunications towers to airports. Infrastructure development in the areas of energy, transportation and telecommunications have seen the greatest recent growth, with estimates ranging as high as $450 billion, to be spent…
Europe’s largest bank profits boosted by its operations in Latin America
Spain’s Banco Santander said that 2011 net profits reveal the growing importance of its Latin America operations which contributed with 51% of the bulk. Last year net profits totalled 5.4 billion Euros, down from 8.2 billion Euros in 2010. The growing importance of Latin America was evident in the bank’s loan book during for 2011. Total loans during the year were up 4% as Banco Santander SA boosted business in Latin America that helped buffer decreasing European operations. Europe’s largest bank by…
South American timber and wood products poised for growth
Global trade of wood products has gone up substantially the past two years. Hardwood chip export from Chile, Uruguay and Brail was up 43 percent in 2011 compared to 2009, as reported by the Wood Resource Quarterly. A clear majority of the increase was Eucalyptus chips destined for pulp mills in Japan and Europe. Wood chip exports from South America are on track to reach a record high of almost eight million tons in 2011, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly. This would be an increase of seven percent from last…
HSBC has released a report predicting the rise and fall of the world’s economies in the next 40 years.
The global research department of HSBC has released a report predicting the rise and fall of the world’s economies in the next 40 years. The world’s top economy in 2050 will be China, followed by the United States. No surprises there – since China’s reforms in the 1980s, economists have said it’s not a question of if, but when, China’s collective economic might will top the U.S. #adp02 But among the smaller, developing nations, there are several surprises by HSBC prognosticators:But among the smaller,…
Paraguay enhances measures against FMD
Paraguay veterinary services concluded Monday midday the termination of 168 livestock mostly belonging to a farm where an outbreak of foot and mouth disease was confirmed 2 January in the county of San Pedro to the centre north of the country. According to the Animal health and food quality Service, Senacsa, 154 cattle from the “Nazareth” farm were sacrificed together with another nine and two hogs from neighbouring paddocks Livestock were terminated with the so called ‘sanitary rifle’, manned by the…
Uruguay is the best place to live in Latin America according to the Legatum Institute
According to the latest Prosperty index, Uruguay ranks 29, followed by Chile, 31, Argentina 39 and Brazil, 52. In the whole of the Americas, Uruguay is the only country that figures in the highest ranking with Canada (6) and the US (10). The rest of South America is ranked medium while Ecuador and Bolivia figure at the lowest level. The Legatum Institute describes itself as an independent non-partisan public policy group based in London, with research, publications, and programs that advance ideas and policies…
Unasur forecasts South America’s decade
A new global order is emerging as a result of the world crisis and recession in developed countries and Latin America has a crucial role to play given its very satisfactory economic performance in recent years, said Unasur Secretary General Maria Emma Mejia. Meeting in Madrid for the tenth anniversary of the Spanish foreign affairs think-tank Royal Institute Elcano, Ms Mejia together with other world experts and politicians were invited to discuss the international crisis, the emergence of new powers…
Book Review: Australian Utopian dream in Paraguay – A ticket to Paradise
Book for the Week – A ticket to Paradise Blue-eyed South Americans with surnames like Smith and McQueen live in the wilds of Paraguay. This is the intriguing story of their ancestors, an idealistic Australian journalist called William Lane, and a colony called New Australia. In 1893, Australian journalist William Lane dreamed of creating a utopia where his socialist ideals could flourish, far away from his home in Queensland. He enlisted 238 followers and convinced them to sail across the Pacific with…
