Jamaican exports have reported a 39 percent growth for the period between January and May 2006, with earnings moving from approximately $641 million to $827 million, that according to Andre Gordon, President of the Jamaica Exporters Association (JEA). Giving a breakdown of the sector’s performance, Gordon said that food export “has recovered nicely and is up. Beverage export, which is a major growing segment of the food business, has increased significantly at over 39 percent”.

While headlines are trumpeting a deflating of the housing real estate bubble, the market in hotel real estate continues to boom. Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, a hotel real estate management company, recently reported that through the first six months of 2006, the total volume of U.S. hotel sales of $10 million or more set a record of $21.8 billion. That surpasses the previous record for an entire year, $21 billion in 2005.

Puerto Rico is said to be one of the countries in the region that now suffers from a critical trade imbalance, therefore the island nation is now seeking to increase trade in goods and services with Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, and other countries in the region. Communications, transportation, and technology are some of the areas identified for a boost. On other matters, Puerto Rico continues to enjoy a healthy relationship with Trinidad and Tobago.

Barbados has been identified as one of the most competitive countries in the world to do business. In a list compiled by the World Economic Forum, the country comes in at number 31 out of 125 countries. The ranking is based on a survey of over 11,000 business leaders in those countries.

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.