UNCTAD - United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

For the classes taught by Prof. Tim Richardson

What does UNCTAD do?
 "Established in 1964 as a permanent intergovernmental body, UNCTAD is the principal organ of the United Nations General Assembly dealing with trade, investment and development issues."

from their website, UNCTAD explains that it undertakes the following tasks:

• Globalization and Development Strategies
• Examines trends in the global economy and evaluates their impact upon the development process  (WTGR notes: you can also get a lot of this info from the OECD)
• Undertakes macroeconomic policy analysis in the context of interdependence among countries and sectors of the  economy
• Analyzes specific development challenges and successful  experiences, and draws lessons for developing countries and countries in transition to a market economy
• Studies questions related to financial flows and indebtedness, and helps developing countries manage their debt
• Develops databases and provides statistical information related to trade and development
• International Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities
• 5 other points about analysing trade info, etc.
• Investment, Technology and Enterprise Development
• Examines global trends in foreign direct investment (FDI)  flows; the interrelationships between FDI, trade, technology and development; and the development implications of a possible multilateral framework on investment
• 6 other points related to advising countries with information about FDI and its effects
• Services Infrastructure for Development, and Trade Efficiency
• Helps developing countries and countries in transition improve the efficiency of their trade-supporting services  through technical cooperation programmes
• Supports the formulation of national policies and regulations promoting services infrastructure for development, trade facilitation and trade efficiency

4 other points

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UNCTAD  publications online

UNCTAD's web site at  www.unctad.org contains a link to a publications / press releases page.  On that page you are able to find a number of documents related to Foreign Direct Investment, older examples include. STRENGTHENING INSTITUTIONS AND CAPACITIES IN THE AREA OF COMPETITION AND CONSUMER PROTECTION POLICIES IN LATIN AMERICA, Cases of Bolivia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Peru FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, Does it Crowd in Domestic Investment? Jan 20th, 2000 TRENDS IN FDI AND WAYS AND MEANS OF ENHANCING FDI FLOWS TO AND AMONG DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, Dec 8th, 1999 see if you can find any newer stories from 2005 or 2004

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UNCTAD  publications online

Please note that when you go to the UNCTAD web site to the publications section there is a search box at the bottom of the page. In this search box type "foreign direct investment" and the returns that come up will include the 4 documents noted above.  Each document has an executive summary which I'd like you to read (this is only a paragraph each) Understand that many of these documents were written by consultants to the United Nations. Most of the consultants are economics and international business professors for European and American universities. The documents can be viewed online but you have to have Adobe PDF viewer on your computer. The executive summaries do not require Adobe and are viewable in your regular browser. Some of the executive summaries contain very good points for the student of international business. For example: The Executive Summary of  TRENDS IN FDI AND WAYS AND MEANS OF ENHANCING FDI FLOWS TO AND AMONG DEVELOPING COUNTRIES says "The determinants of foreign direct investments fall under three broad categories:  the policies of host countries,  the proactive measures that countries adopt to promote and facilitate investment, and the characteristics of their economies."

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UNCTAD World Investment Report 2013

World Investment Report 2013 main page for all reports  http://unctad.org/en/pages/DIAE/World%20Investment%20Report/WIR-Series.aspx  overview  2013  http://unctad.org/en/pages/PublicationWebflyer.aspx?publicationid=588  full report 2013 (we discussed the first few pages in class Feb 28th)  http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/wir2013_en.pdf  "In 2012 – for the first time ever – developing economies absorbed more FDI than developed countries, accounting for 52 per cent of global FDI flows. This is partly because the biggest fall in FDI inflows occurred in developed countries, which now account for only 42 per cent of global flows. Developing economies also generated almost one third of global FDI outflows, continuing a steady upward trend" "FDI outflows from developed countries dropped to a level close to the trough of 2009 . The uncertain economic outlook led transnational corporations (TNCs) in developed countries to maintain their wait-and-see approach towards new investments or to divest foreign assets, rather than undertake major international expansion." Discussed in class Feb 25th through the UNCTAD website.

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UNCTAD World Investment Report 2009

World Investment Report 2009   overview  unctad.org/en/docs/wir2009_en.pdf   Main Points Global FDI flows have been severely affected worldwide by the economic and financial crisis. "...greenfield investments were initially more resilient to the crisis in 2008, but were hit badly in 2009. On the other hand, cross-border M&As have been on a continuous decline, but are likely to lead the future recovery. Divestments were particularly significant during the crisis." "...in the first quarter of 2009, inflows fell a further 44% compared with their level in the same period in 2008"

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UNCTAD World Investment Report 2008

World Investment Report 2008  http://www.unctad.org/..2008..  overview  http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/wir2008overview_en.pdf

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UNCTAD World Investment Report 2006

UNCTAD's web site also includes a special section devoted to its WIRs - also known as World Investment Reports - the most recent one available is dated 2006 World Investment Report 2006  http://www.unctad.org/Templates/WebFlyer.asp?intItemID=3968&lang=1  Intro and Chapter One  http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/wir2006ch1_en.pdf  Main points for WIR 2006 New sources of FDI are emerging among developing and transition economies a growing number of TNCs from these economies are emerging as major regional - or sometimes even global - players For low-income countries, FDI from developing countries can be of great importance. In some of them, it accounts for a significant share of all FDI flows. example, FDI from China into Vietnam FDI from Brazil, into other Latin American countries Rising global demand for commodities was reflected in the steep increase in natural resource-related FDI Among developing regions, Asia remained the main magnet for FDI flows, followed by Latin America, where re-invested earnings have played a major role Africa´s share in world FDI inflows was still small, but its FDI growth rate has nonetheless surpassed those of other developing regions reason: China buying land and resources in "conflict regions"

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UNCTAD World Investment Report 2004

World Investment Report 2004 Main points for WIR 2004 The sectoral pattern of FDI is shifting towards services Global FDI flows bottomed out in 2003, but there were some regional differences The offshoring of corporate services is taking off rapidly, thanks to advances in information and communications technologies.

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UNCTAD World Investment Report 2002

World Investment Report 2002 Main points for WIR 2002 Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in decline a lot compared to the previous year slowdown in the world economy and a weakening of business confidence, - accentuated by the September 11 events in the United  States a sharp reduction of cross border mergers and acquisitions that take place predominantly between industrialized countries.  UNCTAD does not expect a rebound of FDI flows this year. FDI downturn was concentrated in the developed countries

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UNCTAD World Investment Report 2001

World Investment Report 2001 Main points developed countries remain prime destination cross-border mergers and M&A remain the main stimulus behind FDI developing countries share of FDI  declined for second straight year in a row UE, USA and Japan account for 71% of inflows and 82% of outflows UK top source country U.S. largest FDI recipient unprecedented levels of FDI into, and from Canada inflows to Africa declined inflows to Latin America and Caribbean declined inflows into Central and Eastern Europe rose high FDI is unevenly distributed world's top 30 host countries account for 95% of total world FDI inflows

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There are a number of Press Releases associated with the WIR and when you go to that page to see the releases, just looking at the titles can give you an idea of the "spin" they are trying to put on the information.

examples of old press releases are as follows

• Developed Countries Boost Foreign Direct Investment by 46 per cent to New Record
•  "The volume of foreign direct investment (FDI) is rising rapidly with the growth largely dominated by transnational corporations (TNCs) from the United States and Western Europe. These enterprises also dominate the ranks of the world’s largest 100 TNCs, as measured in terms of foreign assets. Mergers and acquisitions – many of which involve multi-billion dollar deals – are reshaping the system of international production. Total FDI rose by almost 40 per cent to over US$640 billion last year [1998]. But, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) stresses that to capture the full impact of the growth of TNCs it is important to also note that they are now rapidly boosting their foreign activities through a variety of non-equity firms (e.g. management contracts, franchising), as well as building technology networks with partner enterprises."
• International Production Drives Globalization
 "The driving engines behind the 1998 and 1999 FDI expansion are cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) among firms, especially between Japan, North America and Western Europe... Reasons for increased cross-border M&As include: the opening of markets due to liberalization and deregulation; the pressure of competition between firms brought about by globalization and intensified technological changes; the importance of firm size as a factor in   creating synergies and economies of scale, and as a way to keep pace with an evolving technological environment; the desire to strengthen market positions; and also the desire to make immediate financial gain where the opportunity arises."

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