Development Account Projects
Support for decision-making and policy formulation on foreign direct investment in the context of the Millennium Development Goals and the Monterrey Consensus
Background:
The majority of developing countries receive modest inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI). The least developed countries are not attracting the levels or the type of FDI that would help their economies integrate into global markets, benefit from the opportunities of the global trading and financial system and progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. This can be attributed partly to an inadequate business environment, poor institutional frameworks and lack of political stability, among other factors. The lack of relevant, reliable and timely information on FDI and transnational corporation activities and insufficient capacity to analyse such information, is also part of the problem, preventing a number of developing countries (particularly least developed countries) from assessing accurately the impact of FDI and the activities of transnational corporations on their economies, making appropriate decisions and formulating development-oriented policies regarding FDI, and properly monitoring their progress towards Millennium Development Goal 8. The project will be managed and implemented by UNCTAD, in association with regional organisations.
Objective:
To build the capacity of developing countries to analyze and formulate policies on FDI and transnational corporations in the context of achieving their overall development goals.
Expected accomplishments:
- Enhanced capacity of government officials to effectively assess the impact of FDI and activities of transnational corporations on their economy, monitor FDI-related development objectives and formulate appropriate development-oriented policies
- Enhanced capacity of institutions, investment promotion agencies and national statistics offices to establish and maintain knowledge management processes and structures.
Implementation status:
This project began implementation in 2008 with activities scheduled in the Africa region. The first main activity will be the preparation of investment profiles on the beneficiary countries and the establishment of a list of core indicators relevant for policy makers in the formulation of FDI-related policies. Surveys will also be conducted on FDI in beneficiary countries and a technical infrastructure will be designed to process survey data and disseminate the survey results. The project's direct capacity building efforts will begin in the first year and continue throughout with the organization of national workshops to implement a data analysis and dissemination strategy and to develop the capabilities of countries to use and analyse data for policy-formulation purposes for a meaningful impact on FDIs.
