Officials from Central and South American governments and central banks courted Asian companies and investors as they gathered on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa for the annual meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), their biggest creditor bank.

"Latin American and Caribbean countries' economies demonstrated a new dynamism in 2004," IADB President Enrique Iglesias said in a keynote speech. "Having learned the lessons of experience, countries in the region managed this boom prudently."

Latin American exports to Asia have ballooned, driven by a booming Chinese economy that has fuelled demand for raw materials such as oil, steel and copper from resource-rich countries.

With stability slowly returning to many Latin American economies, analysts have said Asian financial markets could be more open to investing in the high-yielding emerging markets, though political instability as an election year looms poses a worry for many.

Nations such as Mexico and Colombia have said they are looking to issue debt in Asia in a bid to diversify their external financing by issuing sovereign bonds in currencies other than the US dollar.

Still, Argentina's recent debt swap scheme after a massive default in 2002 remains a concern, especially in Japan, as governments try to inspire confidence in their credit-worthiness.

Japanese investors were among those burned by Argentina's historic debt default and subsequent restructuring where investors took a huge loss. The debt exchange process has recently been delayed by a US court case involving disgruntled investors who opted not to join the swap.

Japan's Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki on Sunday criticised Argentina's handling of its debt restructuring and said he hoped it would not set a precedent for future deals.

Latin America is enjoying the Chinese boom for its natural resources -- the region's exports to China have grown some 600 percent in the past decade, according to Ma Delun, Assistant Governor of the People's Bank of China.