Risky business.Despite a wholesale move to democratic capitalism across the region, political crises in Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador are creating untold hazards that may well lead to significant business losses. Expropriation The taking of private property for public use or in the public interest. The taking of U.S. industry situated in a foreign country, by a foreign government. Expropriation is the act of a government taking private property; Eminent Domain is the legal term describing the , foreign exchange moratoriums, political violence--the list goes on. According to the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), specialized agency of the United Nations. Formed in 1988, with headquarters in Washington, D.C., it is a member of the World Bank Group (see International Bank for Reconstruction and Development) and membership in the (MIGA See Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency. ), a foreign-investment insurance agency run by the World Bank, political risk concerns helped cut the flow of investments in the developing world by 23% to US$135 billion in 2003, compared with just two years earlier. While economies gained steam in 2004, political-risk premiums remained high, as companies stayed on the sidelines On the sidelines An investor who decides not to invest due to market uncertainty. on the sidelines Of or relating to investors who, having assessed the market, have decided to avoid committing their funds. as opposed to investing abroad, according to MIGA. |
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