Colombia stands out as a destination for the region's foreign direct investment

The report is based on data compiled by The Financial Times Ltd's FDi Markets, which monitors new investment projects and significant expansions in countries, not counting mergers, acquisitions or any other transaction based on equity participation.

The report highlights Colombia's sustained growth, in terms of investment, between 2015 and 2017. In 2015, 85 companies invested in Colombia a total of $2.67bn in capital investment. This figure increased by 9.64% in 2016, when the total amount of foreign direct investment reached $2.92bn and benefited 101 Colombian projects. (Find sectors with investment opportunities in Colombia)

The Financial Times also highlighted the notable increase in job creation in Colombia during 2015, when 21,041 new jobs were created. This figure reached 58,000 in 2017, thanks to 309 investment projects carried out by 249 foreign companies.

Stable Investment Destination

To identify the region's strongest destinations for foreign direct investment, The Financial Times considered the number of projects in each country that received foreign capital in 2017. Mexico was ranked first, with 449 projects, followed by Brazil and Colombia with 178 and 73 projects respectively.

The fDi report also identified the sectors that on a global level, received the greatest amount of foreign capital, according to 2017 trends. The energy sector was first, with $79.6bn, followed by IT services and software, and business and financial services.

This is not the first time Colombia has been recognized as an important destination for foreign direct investment. In 2017 UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) highlighted Colombia as one of the world's top 30 countries in terms of receiving foreign direct investment.