World Investment Report 2018: Investment and new industrial policies

By UNCTAD, Published by UNCTAD, June 2018

The 2018 World Investment Report presents foreign direct investment (FDI) trends and prospects at global, regional and national levels; analyzes the latest developments in national policy measures on investment; highlights trends in investment treaties and investment dispute settlement; and presents progress and next steps in the reform of the investment treaty regime. The report argues that modern industrial policies, especially those aimed at positioning for the new industrial revolution, call for a strategic review of investment policies. While FDI remains the largest external source of finance for developing countries, global FDI flows fell by 23 per cent to USD 1.43 trillion, with a slower rate of expansion of international production and a decrease in rates of return on foreign investment to 6.7 per cent from 8.1 in 2012. The report also indicates that growth in global value chains has stagnated and that projections show fragile growth of global FDI in 2018. Available at http://worldinvestmentreport.unctad.org/world-investment-report-2018