Foreign investment in Chile from January to August reached 2.35 billion U.S. dollars, up 187 percent over the same period in 2007, the government announced Tuesday.
Chilean Economy Minister Hugo Lavados told reporters that the amount was also 71 percent higher than the total volume of foreign investment in Chile in 2007, which reached 1.37 billion dollars.
"The increase of foreign investment allows us to project that 2009 will be a great year, which is an encouraging signal about the attraction our country has for international investors," Lavados said.
Mining, among all sectors, drew the most foreign investment with 1.42 billion dollars, representing 61 percent of the total investment in the period.
Electricity, gas and water sectors came second, with 434.2 million dollars, representing 18 percent, and communications with 153.4 million dollars, about 6 percent.
The three biggest investing countries are Canada with 1.18 billion dollars, 50 percent of the total investment, Japan with 14 percent and the United States with 9 percent.
