Mexico Expects Increase in Foreign Business Investment in 2006

Mexico may receive as much as $20 billion in foreign direct investment this year, helping sustain the country's economic expansion, Economy Minister Sergio Garcia de Alba says.

Direct investment is poised to rise from last year's $17.8 billion as foreign automakers look to expand output in Latin America's second-biggest economy. And that investment, Garcia says, could help push Mexico's economic growth rate this year above the central bank's estimate of 3.5 percent to 4 percent.

Investment in Mexico's auto industry will reach $5 billion this year as manufacturers such as Ford Motor Co. and Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. gear up to boost exports to the United States, Garcia said. The U.S. buys about 85 percent of Mexican exports.

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