164 p. charts, graphs, tablesGlobal foreign direct investment (FDI) fell by 2% to $1.3 trillion in 2023 amid an economic slowdown and rising geopolitical tensions, according to the World Investment Report 2024. But the report highlights that the decline exceeds 10% when excluding the large swings in investment flows in a few European conduit economies. The downturn in project finance affected sustainable development, with new funding for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) sectors dropping over 10%, particularly in agrifood and water. This hampers efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda and calls for urgent policy action to revamp sustainable development finance. The report emphasizes that business facilitation and digital government solutions can address low investment by creating a transparent and streamlined environment. It highlights significant growth in online services and information portals, saying such tools also support broader digital government development, benefiting developing nations in particular.
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- Geneva ; UN
Table of Contents
- UNCTAD_WIR_2024_web.pdf -1
- Executive summary 13
- Chapter I 19
- International investment trends 19
- A. Foreign direct investment 21
- 1. Global trends 21
- 2. Trends by geography 23
- 3. Trends by project type and sector 39
- B. Investment in the Sustainable Development Goals 47
- C. International production 52
- 1. Key indicators of international production 52
- 2. Internationalization trends of the largest MNEs 54
- 3. Shifting investment patterns among the top 100 MNEs 56
- Chapter II 63
- Investment policy trends 63
- A. National investment policies 65
- 1. Overall trends 65
- 2. Policy measures more favourable to investors 68
- 3. Policy measures less favourable to investors 73
- 4. Outward foreign direct investment policies 78
- B. International investment policies 83
- 1. Trends in international investment agreements 83
- 2. Trends in investor–State dispute settlement 91
- Chapter III 95
- Sustainable finance trends 95
- A. Sustainability-themed capital market products 97
- 1. Sustainable bond markets 97
- 2. Sustainable funds 103
- B. Sovereign and public institutional investors 106
- 1. Sustainability integration strategies and practices 108
- 2. Sustainability disclosure 111
- C. Policies, regulations and standards 114
- 1. International sustainability reporting standards 114
- 2. Policymaking at national and regional levels 120
- Chapter IV 125
- Investment facilitation and digital government 125
- A. Introduction 127
- B. Progress on digital investment facilitation worldwide 131
- 1. The wider digital government context 131
- 2. The spread and quality of business portals 133
- 3. Foreign investor-specific online procedures 137
- 4. Portal ownership and the role of IPAs 140
- C. Facilitation in national and international investment policies 143
- 1. National policies 143
- 2. International investment agreements 147
- D. The impact of investment facilitation and digital government 152
- E. From online business facilitation to digital government 158
- 1. The basic architecture of digital government services 158
- 2. Effective implementation 160
- 3. Connecting with wider digital government 163
- F. Conclusions and policy implications 168
- References 171
- Annex table 1 174
- Annex table 2 178
