President Leonel Fernandez spoke at meetings in Philadelphia and Miami last week, pushing for investment in the Dominican Republic. He proclaimed that the Dominican Republic would become “the investment center for the Caribbean”. In Philadelphia, Mr. Fernandez addressed the Hispanic-American Chamber of Commerce, where he stressed on the development of the Dominican system of industrial free zones and the increasing number of accords inked with governments and universities.

Brazil’s real had its biggest weeklong gain in more than a month as exporters took advantage of a drop in the currency to sell dollars. The currency rose as much as 1 percent, rebounding from last week’s three-month low. A 2.6 percent drop last week --the biggest since May-- allowed exporters to sell dollars at a better rate and prompted investors to snap up local assets on expectations Brazil will continue to offer attractive returns.

Carnival Corporation & plc reported net income of $1.23 billion, or $1.49 diluted EPS, on revenues of $3.91 billion for its third quarter ended August 31, 2006. Third-quarter revenues ramped up 8.3 percent, primarily driven by a 5.2 percent increase in capacity and an increase in revenue yields (revenue per available lower berth day).

Dominican President Leonel Fernandez wrapped up a busy agenda in Chicago last week, where he dictated a conference on the opportunities of investment in his country in the Harris School. Fernandez also met with executives of hotel company Roco Ki, whose front office promised to expand their project in Macao, in the Dominican province of Altagracia, with an additional $1 billion.

The hotel sector in the Dominican Republic grabbed as many as $69 million worth of foreign investments in the first half of the ongoing year, official sources say. The increase climbed a whopping 31,9 percent as compared to that figures posted in the same period in 2005, according to the Direct Foreign Investment Department of the Dominican Export and Investment Center.

Cuba’s economy grew 12.5 percent in the first half of 2006, boosted by a surge in the construction, transport and services industries, Economy and Planning Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez said. This year the economy is likely to attain a second straight year of growth exceeding 10 percent as local investment and proceeds from exports such as nickel and sugar cane boost government coffers and workers’ incomes, Rodriguez said at a press conference in Havana.