Volkswagen, in hopes of expanding its market in Latin America, has recently decided to invest $7 billion Reis in Brazil until 2020.

According to the World Economic Forum, women work on average 39 more days per year than men. Furthermore, a new report issued by the forum estimates that at the current pace, the economic gender gap will not close for 170 years.

More saving is done through informal mechanisms. In Mexico 32% of the population saves informally, while 15% saves through formal methods like banks or other financial institutions.

Pedro Parente, President of the Brazilian state-owned oil company, Petrobras, asserts that both the national and global petroleum industries are in desperate need of reorganization.

In response to decreased productivity among local, subsidiary fishermen, Peruvian Prime Minister Fernando Zavala has declared five nautical miles off the coast of Tumbes and Piura, provinces in northwestern Peru, intangible to farm fishermen and other corporations associated with large-scale fishing.

While Latin America is a region rich with culture, geography, industry, and art, there are certain commercial and technological shortcomings that prevent certain demographics like women and the working poor from flourishing from technological integration.

According to the World Bank’s 2107 Doing Business report, Brazil placed 123rd out of 190 in a ranking of countries in which it is easiest to do business.

In an attempt to benefit local businesses and increase the value of this year’s crops, farmers from the Piura region of northwestern Peru sold their harvest of bean crops at 30% over market value. 

Although credit operations in the country are led by Cundinamarca and Antioquia, microcredit is gaining popularity in rural areas.  

A new booming area of the Costa Rican economy is that of beauty bars.  Beauty bars denote such establishments as nail salons, hair salons, waxing parlors, makeup studios, and combinations of these services.