Environment

Optimism is returning to Trinidad and Tobago after years of recession. With the IMF forecasting GDP expansion of 1% in 2018 and 0.9% in 2019, the government now has the opportunity to shift their focus from tackling short-term economic problems to implementing long-term reforms and policy initiatives.

Although Papua New Guinea’s macroeconomic slowdown, challenging business climate and falling global commodity prices have weighed on trade and investment in recent years, the country continues to offer high-potential opportunities to investors.

In the mid-20th century, Argentina was a tantalising draw for investors and talent fleeing post-war Europe. However, questionable financial management in the 1990s led to excessive volumes of debt, hyperinflation and an unprecedented currency crisis. But in only two decades, Argentina has returned as a new focus of investors and companies. The newly elected government is working to recover the interest of American and European companies.

With a new administration in place, local and international players in Peru have regained optimism. As one of South America’s top performers due to its reforms and fiscal discipline, the country is benefiting from rising commodity prices and an export-oriented mining sector. In addition, 2018 brought increased public expenditure, with notable rises in the budgets for education, health, infrastructure and reconstruction.

In its April 2018 Economic Monitor for Thailand, the World Bank reported that GDP growth accelerated to 3.9% in 2017, from 0.91% in 2014, 2.94% in 2015 and 3.23% in 2016. This was the fastest expansion since the 7.24% recorded in 2012, and was driven by strong global growth, increased export revenue and a modest recovery in private consumption.

Driven by an ongoing process of economic opening since the 1990s, Mexico has established a solid macroeconomic base. Structural reforms have improved the country’s trade flows, helped to soften the impact of a gradual slowdown in hydrocarbons production and exports, and enabled manufacturing-led economic diversification and regional integration.