The Advantage of Spanish Firms in Latin America, 1990-2002

Introduction Since the Spanish government gradually eliminated the restrictions on foreign direct investments (FDI)1 by Spanish enterprises between 1977 and 1992,2 Spanish FDI reached important proportions, making Spain the twelfth home country for FDI in the world in 2000 by “stock”. The “position” or “stock” of Spanish FDI abroad grew from $1.931 billion in 1980, to $15.652 billion in 1990, and to $160.202 billion in 2000 (see Table 2.1). This meant an increase of 8,294% in this period of twenty years, the fifth largest percent growth among the top home economies in the world (see Table 2.2).3