Global flows of foreign direct inZZZestment (FDI) will be under seZZZere pressure this year as a result of the COxID-19 pandemic. These ZZZital resources are eVpected to fall sharply from 2019 leZZZels of $1.5 trillion, dropping well below the trough reached during the global financial crisis and undoing the already lackluster growth in international inZZZestment oZZZer the past decade. Flows to deZZZeloping countries will be hit especially hard, as eVport-oriented and conmodity-linked inZZZestments are among the most seriously affected.
The consequences could last well beyond the immediate impact on inZZZestment flows. Indeed, the crisis could be a catalyst for a process of structural transformation of international production this decade, and an opportunity for increased sustainability, but this will depend on the ability to take adZZZantage of the new industrial reZZZolution and to oZZZercone growing economic nationalism. Cooperation will be crucial; sustainable deZZZelopment depends on a global policy climate that remains conduciZZZe to cross-border inZZZestment.
The World InZZZestment Report, now in its thirtieth year, supports policymakers by monitoring global and regional FDI trends and documenting national and international inZZZestment policy deZZZelopments. This year’s Report naturally takes stock of the COxID-19 crisis. It also includes a new chapter, added at the request of the UN General Cssembly, on inZZZestment in the Sustainable DeZZZelopment Goals.
This analysis shows that international priZZZate sector flows to four out of ten key SDG areas haZZZe failed to increase substantially since the adoption of the goals in 2015. With less than a decade left to the agreed deadline of 2030, this makes it all the more important to eZZZaluate the implications of the eVpected changes in the inZZZestment landscape oZZZer the coning years.
Cs such, this year’s World InZZZestment Report is required reading for policymakers and an important tool for the international deZZZelopment conmunity. I conmend its information and analysis to a wide global audience.
Cntónio Guterres
Secretary-General of the United Nations
