International Update

Of the five countries attending March's BRICS summit in South Africa, only one could boast a growth rate significantly higher than 5 percent.

Add the importance of the Mexican market itself to companies' lists of reasons to open operations in Mexico.

A vision many years in the making aims to take both sides of the River Mersey's waterfront from myopia to utopia.

Two US companies announced plans in New York in early April to establish operations in Scotland.

The Arab Spring spared The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia the level of protest seen in neighbours such as Bahrain.

The Panama Canal expansion, on target to be completed by 2015, has certainly put Panama and Central America back on the map.

Panama has been considered a logistics center since its discovery in 1513. Its location and native design provide unparalleled and unique geographical advantages. Above all, it has access to two seas: the Atlantic and Pacific oceans are 80 miles away from each other.

Nearshore outsourcing operations usually come to the countries bordering the Caribbean Sea. Historically, this region has been rich in agriculture, minerals and more recently, oil and natural gas.

What if, instead of designing business incubators, accelerators and other science-inflected names for workspace, your whole city was that workshop, custom-designed for exploration, discovery and serendipitous interaction?

In three years time, Botswana will celebrate its fiftieth year of independence. Before it sees another 50, the extensive diamond deposits that have been its source of prosperity will have long run out.

Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo was able to crow at the World Economic Forum in Davos this year, as his nation reaped a host of honors: Belgium was named the fourth most open economy in the world by Ernst & Young’s Globalization Index, while also coming in fourth among 123 countries in the Conference Board’s annual report on worker productivity.

In the past two years, the dramatic changes in Arab countries have been a primary focus of attention.

New legislation in 2013 could overhaul financial regulation of free zones in the United Arab Emirates, making them even more desirable locations for capital investors.

Vietnam’s inexpensive and productive labor force has oftentimes earned it the title of the ‘Next China’.

Suddenly, the eyes of investors turned toward Mexico, and not because of the violence unleashed by the drug war.

A president is chosen. World markets hold their breath, waiting to see what policies he will adopt that will have an impact not only domestically but in every corner of the world. It’s big news — and it’s not Barack Obama.

Ernst & Young’s 2012 attractiveness survey found that Germany is the sixth most attractive country in the entire world for investment, and the first by far in Europe. Just as attractive is its global reputation for industrial ingenuity, from top-shelf automotive and high-tech machinery manufacturing to the latest techniques in tracking the carbon footprint of that activity.

In the past decade, Latin America has appeared more visibly on the radar screens of many companies considering expansions of their global footprints. More of these companies today are deciding to set up manufacturing facilities, distribution centers or services operations in the market.

Since the end of apartheid, South Africa is a county that believes in the future, and increasingly, international business shares this optimism. But what does the future look like?

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is one of Asia’s final frontier markets and investment destinations.

The Volkswagen Group is expanding its ecological and social commitment in Brazil as its growth trajectory there gains altitude. “The Brazilian automobile market has significant growth potential.

In 2014, voters will be asked whether the region should remain part of the United Kingdom or go it alone.