Global FDI flows rise by 4% to reach $745b in first half of 2013 – UN

Global inflows of foreign direct investments (FDIs) rose by 4% to reach $745 billion during the first-half of 2013 compared to the 2012 period, the UN trade agency said October 31, 2013.

In its Global Investment Trends Monitor(GITM), the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said developing and transition economies attained a new record share of the global FDI inflows.

Developing and transition economies accounted for more than 60% of the global FDI flows, the GITM noted indicating of a new diverging trend appearing in those two economic groups.

There was however, a fall of FDI flows in developed countries and UNCTAD attributed it to declines in the major host countries, including the United States, France and Germany.

The United Kingdom remains an exception, continuing its upward trend in FDI attraction, and becoming the world’s largest recipient of FDI in this period, it added.

UNCTAD estimates that FDI flows for 2013 will remain close to the levels in 2012, despite some improvement in macroeconomic conditions in developed economies.

By Ekow Quandzie