Multinational Enterprises in Latin America since the 1990s

Privatization of state-owned enterprises and liberalization of trade and investment flows were two of the cornerstones of the structural reforms implemented by governments across Latin America in the 1990s. Spanish multinational enterprises were attracted by these reforms into industries such as banking and finance, telecommunications, public utilities and oil and gas and by the late 1990s, Spain passed the United States as the main origin of foreign direct investment flows in Latin America. Building on the know-how developed in previous decades in Spain, Spanish multinationals became major player in these sectors that constituted the backbone of the Latin American economies.