Poor countries bear the brunt of the exhaustion of the Global Development Fund: United Nations | Bank News

The COVID-19 crisis caused global FDI to plummet by one-third, threatening the Sustainable Development Goals.

A new report from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development shows that the COVID-19 crisis has led to a severe decline in global foreign direct investment (FDI), and investment flows have fallen by a third-from 1.5 trillion US dollars in 2019 to 2020 1 trillion US dollars. Development (UNCTAD) has issued a warning.

2021 World Investment Report (PDF) The discovery of the coronavirus pandemic has set back the progress made in ensuring that the least developed countries and countries with weaker economies have access to foreign investment funds.

Such funding is essential for the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are a series of goals that the United Nations and its member states have committed to achieve by 2030, especially for the poorer who are at risk of backwardness as the richer countries take off in technology country.

“This is a major issue because international investment flows are critical to the sustainable development of the poorer regions of the world,” said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in the preface of the report.

The report found that the decline in FDI was the most severe for advanced economies, falling by 58%. As the economy has been affected by coronavirus restrictions and lockdowns, funds flowing into Europe have fallen by 80%. North America fell by 42%.

Although FDI in developing economies fell moderately by 8% due to the elastic flow of Asian flows—China’s inflows actually increased by 6% to US$149 billion—but investment in new infrastructure projects in developing countries has suffered. The blow was particularly severe.

According to UNCTAD data, the number of newly announced greenfield projects in developing countries has fallen by 42%, and the number of international project financing transactions has fallen by 14%.

In Africa, greenfield projects critical to the industrialization of the African continent have been reduced by 62%. Total foreign direct investment inflows to Africa fell by 16% to US$40 billion. In developed countries, greenfield investment fell by 19%.

UNCTAD also found that foreign direct investment in Latin America and the Caribbean plummeted, falling 45% to 88 billion U.S. dollars, and foreign direct investment flowing to transition economies fell 58% to only 24 billion U.S. dollars, which was the largest decline among all regions outside Europe. The largest area.

UNCTAD emphasized that it is vital to renew global efforts to promote investment to ensure a sustainable and inclusive recovery from the pandemic so that all countries can achieve sustainable development equitably by 2030.

Acting Secretary-General Isabel Durant of UNCTAD wrote in the preface of the report: “But the problem is not only to revive the economy, but also to make the recovery more sustainable and more resistant to future shocks.”

The report also pointed out the specific challenges that will arise with the launch of the restoration investment plan, and proposed a policy action framework to deal with these challenges.

“Our mission today is to move forward in a different way,” Durant added. “It will be impossible if we do not reignite international investment as an engine of growth and ensure that the recovery is inclusive so that it benefits all countries.”