ECONOMY
GLOBAL FDI FLOWS CONTINUE TO FALL; UNCTAD NOW FORECASTS 2004 REBOUND
Global foreign direct investment (FDI) flows this year are set to stabilize at around the depressed level seen in 2002, but “a rebound is likely in 2004”, says UNCTAD Secretary General Rubens Ricupero, launching the World Investment Report 2003 today in Geneva. Last year’s total $651 billion was just half the record volume of 2000. The decline was broad-based: 108 of 195 economies saw lower inflows in 2002 than in 2001.
FDI flows to Asia and the Pacific declined for the second consecutive year, from $107 billion in 2001 to $95 billion in 2002. The downturn was unevenly distributed by subregion, country and industry. Flows to 31 of the region’s 57 economies decreased, but several countries received significantly higher flows than in 2001.
FDI flows to Central Asia increased, due to a significant rise in flows to Azerbaijan, from $227 million in 2001 to $1 billion in 2002. Kazakhstan received 9% less FDI than in 2001 but remained the main recipient of FDI inflows in the subregion, most of them going to the oil and gas industry.