India, ASEAN most buoyant FDI recipients: UNCTAD

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in developing countries in Asia remained flat year-on-year at $662 billion during 2022, despite clocking about half of global inflows, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said Wednesday in its World Investment Report 2023. India and ASEAN were the most buoyant recipients, with increases of 10 and 5%, respectively, and strong growth in project announcements, it said. FDI inflows were higher in developing countries compared with those in developed economies.

Globally, FDI declined 12% to $1.3 trillion in 2022 after a strong rebound in 2021 following the steep drop due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the report. China, the second largest FDI host country in the world, saw a 5% increase. FDI in the Gulf region declined, but the number of project announcements increased by two thirds.

“Inflows in many smaller developing countries were stagnant, and FDI to the least developed countries (LDCs) declined,” it said. Stressing on the need to focus on investing in sustainable energy for all as “much of the growth in international investment in renewable energy has been concentrated in developed countries”, UNCTAD called for urgent support to developing countries to bridge the gap by attracting massive investment in clean energy. The report also shows that the investment gap across all sectors of the Sustainable Development Goals has nearly doubled since 2015.