Brazilian companies' investments abroad reached US$20 billion in 2008, up 185 percent from 2007, Brazil's Central Bank said on Friday

The figures are the second highest since the Central Bank started registering those investments in 1968.

The total amount refers only to direct investments, such as a Brazilian company's purchasing, entirely or partially, a company abroad. Remittances or loans to companies abroad are not included in the figures.

Among the operations which contributed to the high figures are the US$3 billion investment made by the National Steelwork Company (CSN) in one of its subsidiaries abroad and the expansion of construction company Camargo Correa in Angola where it is building a US$110 million residential project.

For 2009, however, investments are expected to decline. The Brazilian Society of Transnational Companies and Globalization Studies (Sobeet) estimated that the Brazilian investments abroad will fall 25 percent this year due to the global credit crisis.

Despite the drop in overseas investments, Sobeet President Luis Antonio Lima believed Brazil's overseas economic activity is likely to increase, in comparison with other countries.

"We are talking about a lasting process. The participation of emerging countries tends to increase, not only as an investment destination, but also as an origin," he said.