Indian Investment in Latin America

Hari Seshasayee has an interesting article at Americas Quarterly on Indian investment in Latin America, especially compared to Chinese. Here is one contrast:

However, perhaps most indicative of India’s growing stake in Latin America is the country’s diverse range of investments in the region. Only 18 percent of India’s investments in LAC are focused on raw material extraction, compared to 57 percent for China — of particular importance as the drop in global commodity prices makes trade in natural resources less valuable. And while China’s total investments in LAC account for a whopping $50 billion, eclipsing India’s $20 billion, the two countries were evenly matched in the total percentage of greenfield investments in the region from Asian countries between 2003 and 2011, at 14 percent each.

The point about extraction is an important one. For all the talk of Chinese expansion, there will be more fruitful collaboration when investments aren't just focused on primary products. I hope this pattern of India prioritizing new types of productive investments continues.