The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) expects the foreign direct investment to recover worldwide this year, after declining by 35% during the past year as a result of the closure measures that the world witnessed to confront the pandemic and led to a slowdown in existing investment projects.
According to the World Investment Report for 2021 issued by the UNCTAD, it is expected that the global investment will recover some of last year's losses through growth at a rate of between 10 and 15 percent this year. It also shows that despite the expected growth of foreign direct investment in the world with the growth of GDP, it will remain 25 percent lower than its level in 2019 in the wake of the difficult past year.
Investments in developed countries declined last year by 58 percent to $312 billion, the lowest level since 2003. Official statistics reveal a significant decline of investments in Europe by 80 percent, while the United States was the most attractive country for foreign direct investment despite its decline by 40%. China, Hong Kong, Singapore and India were the four largest countries in the world that attracted foreign direct investment over the past year, after the United States.
Source (London-based Al-Arab Newspaper, Edited)
