LatAm foreign investment record $106 bln in '07-UN

SANTIAGO, May 8 (Reuters) - Foreign direct investment in Latin America and the Caribbean hit a record of over $100 billion in 2007, the U.N. Latin American Economic Commission said on Thursday.

The increase was driven by transnational companies seeking to expand into new markets and capitalize on demand growth for both goods and services, and in search of natural resources, the commission said in an annual report.

"This is particularly relevant because the previous record was hit in 1999, in a context of privatizations," said the commission, known by its Spanish acronym ECLAC.

Foreign direct investment in the region totaled $105.9 billion in 2007, up from $72.59 billion in 2006.

In 1999, the figure was $89 billion.

ECLAC said the region's foreign direct investment growth during the year was 43 percent, eclipsing the global increase, in percentage terms, of 18 percent .

Brazil alone saw an increase of $15.8 billion to $34.59 billion, an increase of 84 percent from a year earlier. In Mexico it rose 21 percent from a year earlier to $23.23 billion, and FDI in Chile rose 96 percent to $14.46 billion last year. Colombia was next with an increase of 40 percent to $9.03 billion.

ECLAC last month forecast Latin America's economy will grow at 4.7 percent in 2008, slowing from 5.7 percent growth in 2007, but said it was unlikely the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis would have an impact on the region's financial markets. (Reporting by Juana Casas, Writing by Simon Gardner, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)