the breakdown of aes 2019s gross margin for the years ended december 31 , 2000 and 1999 , based on the geographic region in which they were earned , is set forth below. .
[['north america', '2000 $ 844 million', '% (  % ) of revenue 25% ( 25 % )', '1999 $ 649 million', '% (  % ) of revenue 32% ( 32 % )', '% (  % ) change 30% ( 30 % )'], ['south america', '$ 416 million', '36% ( 36 % )', '$ 232 million', '28% ( 28 % )', '79% ( 79 % )'], ['caribbean*', '$ 226 million', '21% ( 21 % )', '$ 75 million', '24% ( 24 % )', '201% ( 201 % )'], ['europe/africa', '$ 371 million', '29% ( 29 % )', '$ 124 million', '29% ( 29 % )', '199% ( 199 % )'], ['asia', '$ 138 million', '22% ( 22 % )', '$ 183 million', '37% ( 37 % )', '( 26% ( 26 % ) )']]
* includes venezuela and colombia .selling , general and administrative expenses selling , general and administrative expenses increased $ 11 million , or 15% ( 15 % ) , to $ 82 million in 2000 from $ 71 million in 1999 .selling , general and administrative expenses as a percentage of revenues remained constant at 1% ( 1 % ) in both 2000 and 1999 .the increase is due to an increase in business development activities .interest expense , net net interest expense increased $ 506 million , or 80% ( 80 % ) , to $ 1.1 billion in 2000 from $ 632 million in 1999 .interest expense as a percentage of revenues remained constant at 15% ( 15 % ) in both 2000 and 1999 .interest expense increased primarily due to the interest at new businesses , including drax , tiete , cilcorp and edc , as well as additional corporate interest costs resulting from the senior debt and convertible securities issued within the past two years .other income , net other income increased $ 16 million , or 107% ( 107 % ) , to $ 31 million in 2000 from $ 15 million in 1999 .other income includes foreign currency transaction gains and losses as well as other non-operating income .the increase in other income is due primarily to a favorable legal judgment and the sale of development projects .severance and transaction costs during the fourth quarter of 2000 , the company incurred approximately $ 79 million of transaction and contractual severance costs related to the acquisition of ipalco .gain on sale of assets during 2000 , ipalco sold certain assets ( 2018 2018thermal assets 2019 2019 ) for approximately $ 162 million .the transaction resulted in a gain to the company of approximately $ 31 million .of the net proceeds , $ 88 million was used to retire debt specifically assignable to the thermal assets .during 1999 , the company recorded a $ 29 million gain ( before extraordinary loss ) from the buyout of its long-term power sales agreement at placerita .the company received gross proceeds of $ 110 million which were offset by transaction related costs of $ 19 million and an impairment loss of $ 62 million to reduce the carrying value of the electric generation assets to their estimated fair value after termination of the contract .the estimated fair value was determined by an independent appraisal .concurrent with the buyout of the power sales agreement , the company repaid the related non-recourse debt prior to its scheduled maturity and recorded an extraordinary loss of $ 11 million , net of income taxes. .

Question: what was the gross margin change in basis points for south america?
Answer: 80