São Paulo, September 18, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Brazil improved its ranking in the preferences of foreign investors, rising from 13th to 9th place. According to the American consulting firm, A.T. Kearney, which polled executives from the world's largest companies, 17% of global investors are more optimistic about the country than they were a year ago. Even though Brazil's position has improved, one in every ten investors still regards Brazil as a high risk setting.

This is the first time since 1998 in which the majority of the ten markets with the highest rankings represent emerging economies, including China, Mexico, Poland, India, and Russia, in addition to Brazil. Disappearing from the list of the ten most preferred markets for foreign direct investments are developed countries like France, Italy, Canada, and Australia.

What carried most weight in Brazil's classification among the top ten was the country's capacity to regain macroeconomic stability, following by the evaluation that government support of pro-market policies make the country more attractive. For almost half of the executives, regional instability, reflected by the crises in Argentina, Venezuela, and Uruguay, contributed to the shift of business in Brazil's direction.

Nevertheless, the volume of actual investments dropped 26%, from US$ 23 billion in 2001 to US$ 17 billion in 2002. Notwithstanding, Brazil still outperformed its neighbors in terms of attracting investment flows. In Argentina, for example, the decline amounted to 69%, while in Chile it was 64%, and in Venezuela, practically 60%. (DAS)