Among the more recent, Duke Energy has announced that it will invest $2.9bn to establish a coal gasification power plant near Vincennes in south-western Indiana.

Lumina Copper Chile, a subsidiary of Pan Pacific Copper, owned by Japan-based Nippon Mining, is to start producing copper cathode at its $2.5bn Caserones project in Chile.

Italy-based automotive giant Fiat is to invest $926.73m in its 67-33 joint-venture with the Serbian government to produce 200,000 cars at its plant in Kragujevac. And Brazil-based Braskem is considering establishing a $2bn to $3bn polyethylene plant in Bolivia by 2015.