SANTIAGO: Foreign direct investment in Chile will reach record highs in 2012, as a gloomy European economic outlook will push investors further toward emerging markets, a Chilean official told Reuters on Tuesday.
Chile, the world's top copper producer, will see the greatest foreign investment continuing in the key mining, energy and agricultural sectors, said Matias Mori, executive vice president of the country's foreign investment committee.
"Chile's growth forecasts are healthy and far above those for developed countries, so investors see Chile as a safe and sheltered place in time of crisis," Mori said. "We're optimistic that we'll capture these flows."
Investment in Chile this year reached a historic high of $13.79 billion, positioning the country for the first time among the world's top 20 recipients of foreign direct investment, the foreign investment committee said in a statement.
Foreign investment has boosted robust domestic demand, a main motor of growth that this year helped the Chilean economy expand over 6 percent.
Chile's export-dependent growth, however, is seen moderating because European debt woes are expected to dent global demand for some of the country's top products, such as copper, fruits, wood pulp and wine.
The country's central bank now sees the economy expanding between 3.75 percent and 4.75 percent in 2012, compared with a previous outlook for growth of 4.25 percent to 5.25 percent, it said last week.
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