Asian Worlds in Latin America

Book excerpt: There has been increasing Asian interest in Latin America in recent years, beginning with Japanese investment in the 1980s, and continuing into the present decade when there is growing investment by China. This book examines the nature and extent of Asian business and related activity in Latin America. It shows how investment is not just from Japan and China, with Korea and India also involved, and with Taiwan directly competing with China. It explores activity in the minerals and energy sector, and also in trade and other areas. It demonstrates how Asian activity has a wide impact on the countries of both South America and the Caribbean, making them less exclusively "the United States’ backyard"; how different countries are affected differently by Asian activity; and how the growing links with Asia increasingly open up the possibility of greater Latin American activity in Asia.