WORL ENVESMENT REPORT 2008

Share of foreign and domestic private and public investors in the investment commitments of the infrastructure industries of developing and transition economies, by industry and region,

Worl d Investmen

t

UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT

WORLD INVESTMENT

REPORT

2008

Transnational Corporations and the Infrastructure Challenge

24 September 2008 - 17:00 hours GMT

UNITED NATIONS

WORLD INVESTMENT

REPORT

2008

Transnational Corporations, and the Infrastructure Challenge

New York and Geneva, 2007

UNITED NATIONS

New York and Geneva, 2008

As the focal point in the United Nations system for investment and technology, and building on 30 years

of experience in these areas, UNCTAD, through DIAE, promotes understanding of key issues, particularly matters related to foreign direct investment and transfer of technology DIAE also assists developing countries in attracting and benefiting from FDI and in building their productive capacities and international competitiveness The emphasis is on an integrated policy approach to investment, technological capacity building and enterprise development

The terms country/economy as used in this Report also refer, as appropriate, to territories or areas; the designations employed and the presentation of the material do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries In addition, the designations of country groups are intended solely for statistical or analytical convenience and

do not necessarily express a judgement about the stage of development reached by a particular country or area

in the development process The major country groupings used in this Report follow the classification of the United Nations Statistical Office These are:

Developed countries: the members countries of the OECD (other than Mexico, the Republic of Korea and Turkey), plus the new European Union member countries which are not OECD members (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania and Slovenia), plus Andorra, Israel, Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino

Transition economies: South-East Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States

Developing economies: in general all economies not specified above For statistical purposes, the data for China do not include those for Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Hong Kong SAR), Macao Special Administrative Region (Macao SAR) and Taiwan Province of China

Reference to companies and their activities should not be construed as an endorsement by UNCTAD

of those companies or their activities

The boundaries and names shown and designations used on the maps presented in this publication do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations

The following symbols have been used in the tables:

Two dots ( ) indicate that data are not available or are not separately reported Rows in tables have been omitted in those cases where no data are available for any of the elements in the row;

A dash (–) indicates that the item is equal to zero or its value is negligible;

A blank in a table indicates that the item is not applicable, unless otherwise indicated;

A slash (/) between dates representing years, e.g., 1994/95, indicates a financial year;

Use of an en dash (–) between dates representing years, e.g., 1994–1995, signifies the full period involved, including the beginning and end years;

Reference to “dollars” ($) means United States dollars, unless otherwise indicated;

Annual rates of growth or change, unless otherwise stated, refer to annual compound rates;

Details and percentages in tables do not necessarily add to totals because of rounding

The material contained in this study may be freely quoted with appropriate acknowledgement

UNITED NATIONS PUBLICATION

Sales No E.08.II.D.23

ISBN 978-92-1-112755-3Copyright © United Nations, 2008

All rights reservedPrinted in Switzerland

World foreign direct investment inflows rose last year to a record level of $1.8 trillion Developing and transition economies attracted more flows than ever before, reaching nearly $600 billion – a 25 per cent increase over 2006, and a third of the global total While global foreign direct investment flows are projected

to decline this year, those to developing and transition economies are expected to suffer less, despite the current financial and credit crisis

One of the main challenges for the international community is to mobilize greater financial flows for investment conducive to poverty reduction and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals In particular, developing countries require investments that will strengthen the infrastructure industries and

services that are so essential for future growth and for the social well-being of the poor The World Investment Report 2008 examines the ways, extent and conditions under which transnational corporations can contribute

to meeting the infrastructure challenge

The Report argues that while the participation of transnational corporations in the infrastructure sector

of developing countries has risen significantly, a huge gap remains between current investment levels and what is still needed Filling the investment gap is particularly urgent in the case of essential infrastructure industries, such as water and electricity; and is critically important in sectors such as telecommunications and transport

The Report cautions against unrealistic expectations about the contribution of transnational corporations

Companies will only invest in infrastructure projects that can assure adequate returns for commensurate risks It has proven difficult for countries with small economies and weak governance systems to attract transnational corporations into infrastructure The policy challenge is to create the appropriate conditions to facilitate investments that can contribute to poverty alleviation and accelerated development

There is a need to encourage greater involvement by transnational corporations and to maximize country benefits from their technological and other assets This implies improved governance and capacity-building in host countries, the provision of greater financial and technical support from development partners, and responsible infrastructure investors A concerted effort by all parties is required Toward that end, this

host-Report offers valuable information and analysis, and I commend it to a wide global readership.

The World Investment Report 2008 (WIR08) was prepared by a team led by Anne Miroux, comprising

Kumi Endo, Torbjörn Fredriksson, Masataka Fujita, Kálmán Kalotay, Guoyong Liang, Padma Mallampally, Hafiz Mirza, Nicole Moussa, Abraham Negash, Hilary Nwokeabia, Jean François Outreville, Thomas Pollan, Yunsung Tark, Astrit Sulstarova, Thomas van Giffen and Kee Hwee Wee Amare Bekele, Hamed El-Kady, Joachim Karl and Shin Ohinata also contributed to the Report

John H Dunning was the senior economic adviser and Peter Buckley served as principal consultant.Research assistance was provided by Mohamed Chiraz Baly, Bradley Boicourt, Jovan Licina, Lizanne Martinez and Tadelle Taye Aurelia Figueroa, Julia Kubny and Dagmar van den Brule assisted as

interns at various stages Production of the WIR08 was carried out by Severine Excoffier, Rosalina Goyena,

Chantal Rakotondrainibe and Katia Vieu It was edited by Praveen Bhalla and desktop published by Teresita Ventura

WIR08 benefited from inputs provided by participants at a global seminar in Geneva in May 2008,

and two regional seminars on TNCs in infrastructure industries held in April 2008: one in Santiago, Chile (in cooperation with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean), and the other in Johannesburg, South Africa (in cooperation with the Development Bank of Southern Africa) Inputs were also received from Emin Akcaoglu, Maria Argiri, Úna Clifford, Judith Clifton, Zureka Davids, Georgina Dellacha, Yves de Rosée, Daniel Diaz-Fuentes, Quentin Dupriez, Fabrice Hatem, Hayley Herman, Thomas Jost, Céline Kauffmann, Michael Likosky, Michael Minges, El Iza Mohamedou, Bishakha Mukherjee, Sam Muradzikwa, Barbara Myloni, Sanusha Naidu, Premila Nazareth, Federico Ortino, David Lloyd Owen, Terutomo Ozawa, Robert Pearce, Edouard Pérard, Ravi Ramamurti, Mannsoo Shin, Satwinder Singh, Lalita Som, Vincent Valentine, Mira Wilkins and Zbigniew Zimny

Comments and suggestions were received during various stages of preparation from Joe Echendu, Philippa Biggs, Elin Bjerkebo, Doug Brooks, Joel Buarte, Barry Cable, Karine Campanelli, Fanny Cheung, Georgina Cipoletta, Rudolf Dolzer, Chantal Dupasquier, Sean Fahnhorst, Masondo Fikile, Bongi Gasa, Stephen Gelb, Axèle Giroud, David Hall, Geoffrey Hamilton, Toru Homma, Gabor Hunya, Prakash Hurry, Anna Joubin-Bret, Andrei Jouravlev, Detlef Kotte, Thithi Kuhlase, Aimable Mapendano Uwizeye, Shirley Masemola, David Matsheketsheke, Arvind Mayaram, Patricio Millan, Reatile Mochebelele, Seeraj Mohamed, Juan Carlos Moreno-Brid, Tladinyane Moronngoe, Thiery Mutombo Kalonji, Peter Muchlinski, Julius Mucunguzi, Judith Nwako, Sheila Page, Antonio Pedro, Wilson Phiri, Helder Pinto, Jaya Prakash Pradhan, Carlos Razo, Alex Roehrl, Fikile Rouget, Patricio Rozas, Alex Rugamba, Winifred Rwebeyanga, Ricardo Sanchez, Fernando Sanchez Albavera, Miguel Santillana, Christoph Schreuer, Njabulo Sithebe, Miguel Solanes, Admassu Tedesse, Hong Song, Xuekun Sun, Marcia Tavares, Khwezi Tiya, Ignacio Torterola, Peter Utting, Jörg Weber, Paul Wessendorp, Thomas Westcott, Márcio Wohlers, Lulu Zhang and Xuan Zengpei

Amadi-Numerous officials of central banks, statistical offices, investment promotion and other government agencies, and officials of international organizations and non-governmental organizations, as well as

executives of a number of companies also contributed to WIR08, especially with the provision of data and

other information The Report also benefited from collaboration with Erasmus University, Rotterdam, in the collection of data on, and analysis of, the largest TNCs

The financial support of the Governments of France, Norway and Sweden is gratefully acknowledged

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

PREFACE iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv

OVERVIEW xvii

PART ONE RECORD FLOWS IN 2007, BUT SET TO DECLINE CHAPTER I GLOBAL TRENDS 3

A FDI AND INTERNATIONAL PRODUCTION 3

1 Recent trends in FDI 3

a Overall trends .3

b Geographical patterns 7

(i) Developed countries 7

(ii) Developing countries 8

(iii) South-East Europe and CIS 9

c Sectoral patterns 9

2 International production 9

3 Indices of FDI performance and potential 10

4 New developments in FDI policies 11

a Developments at the national level 11

b Developments at the international level 14

(i) Bilateral investment treaties 14

(ii) Double taxation treaties 16

(iii) International investment agreements other than BITs and DTTs 16

(iv) Investor-State dispute settlement 16

(v) Implications of recent developments 17

B CURRENT FINANCIAL AND MONETARY DEVELOPMENTS AND FDI 18

 7KHFXUUHQW¿QDQFLDOFULVLVDQG)',ÀRZV 18

 ,QÀXHQFHRIWKHIDOOLQJGROODURQ)',GHFLVLRQV 19

C FDI BY SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS 20

1 Characteristics of SWFs 20

2 Investment patterns 20

3 Growing concerns about SWFs 25

D THE LARGEST TNCs 26

1 The world’s top 100 TNCs 26

2 The top 100 TNCs from developing economies 29

 3UR¿WDELOLW\RIWKHODUJHVW71&V 30

 7KHZRUOG¶VWRS¿QDQFLDO71&V 31

E PROSPECTS 32

CHAPTER II REGIONAL TRENDS …37

INTRODUCTION 37

A DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 38

1 Africa 38

a Geographical trends 38

L  ,QZDUG)',LQFUHDVHGÀRZVQRWMXVWWRRLOSURGXFHUV 38

(ii) Outward FDI: mainly driven by South Africa 42

b Sectoral trends: a rise of inflows to services 42

c Policy developments 43

d Prospects: commodity prices boost FDI 46

2 South, East, South-East Asia and Oceania 46

a Geographical trends 47

(i) Inward FDI: widespread increases 47

(ii) Outward FDI: growth led by services and extractive industries 49

b Sectoral trends: rising flows to all sectors 50

c Policy developments 51

d Prospects: remaining promising 53

3 West Asia 53

a Geographical trends 53

(i) Inward FDI: a sustained increase 53

(ii) Outward FDI soared 55

b Sectoral trends: strong focus on services 56

c Policy developments 57

d Prospects: FDI set to remain stable 58

4 Latin America and the Caribbean 58

a Geographical trends 58

(i) Inward FDI surged mainly in South America 58

LL  2XWZDUG)',IHOOLQDIWHUDVLJQL¿FDQWLQFUHDVHLQ 60

b Sectoral trends: growth led by primary and natural-resource-based activities 60

c Policy developments 63

d Prospects: growth of inflows and outflows 65

B SOUTH-EAST EUROPE AND THE COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES 66

1 Geographical trends 66

a Inward FDI: growing market-seeking FDI 66

b Outward FDI: Russian TNCs expanding abroad 68

2 Sectoral trends: services dominate .69

3 Policy developments 70

4 Prospects: natural resources will continue to attract FDI 71

C DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 72

1 Geographical trends 72

a Inward FDI: more vibrant in the EU 72

b Outward FDI: strong net outward investments 75

 6HFWRUDOWUHQGVVLJQL¿FDQWLQFUHDVHLQPDQXIDFWXULQJ 76

3 Policy developments 77

4 Prospects: FDI growth likely to decline in the short term 78

PART TWO TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS AND THE INFRASTRUCTURE CHALLENGE INTRODUCTION 85

CHAPTER III TNCs IN INFRASTRUCTURE INDUSTRIES 87

A MAIN FEATURES OF INFRASTRUCTURE INDUSTRIES AND EMERGING ISSUES 87

1 Characteristics of infrastructure industries 87

2 The infrastructure investment gap in developing countries 92

3 The role of the State and other players in infrastructure industries 94

B TNC INVOLVEMENT IN INFRASTRUCTURE INDUSTRIES 97

1 Global trends 99

Page

2 TNC involvement in developing countries 102

C THE UNIVERSE OF INFRASTRUCTURE TNCs 107

1 Major infrastructure TNCs 107

2 Major infrastructure investors in developing countries by industry 110

3 South-South investors in developing countries 112

D COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES, DRIVERS AND STRATEGIES OF INFRASTRUCTURE TNCs 113

1 Sources of competitive advantages 113

2 Drivers, motives and modalities of infrastructure TNCs 116

a Drivers and motives 116

b Modalities of TNC involvement 117

3 Internationalization strategies of infrastructure TNCs 118

E CONCLUSIONS 119

CHAPTER IV IMPACT OF TNC PARTICIPATION ON HOST DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 125

A TNCs’ ROLE IN MOBILIZING FINANCIAL RESOURCES AND THE IMPACT ON INVESTMENT IN INFRASTRUCTURE INDUSTRIES 126

B IMPACT ON INDUSTRY PERFORMANCE AND THE PROVISION OF INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES 129

1 Technology transfer and diffusion 130

 (IIHFWVRQFRPSHWLWLRQDQGHI¿FLHQF\ 131

3 Impact on provision of services and implications for universal access 134

a Electricity 136

b Telecommunications 137

c Transport 138

d Water and sanitation 139

C BROADER DEVELOPMENT IMPACTS AND ISSUES .140

1 Wider economic impacts 141

2 Bargaining power and regulatory concerns 143

D CONCLUSIONS 144

CHAPTER V POLICY CHALLENGES AND OPTIONS 149

A A COMPLEX CHALLENGE 149

B HOST-COUNTRY POLICIES TO ATTRACT AND BENEFIT FROM TNC PARTICIPATION 150

1 Building the institutional and regulatory framework 150

2 Openness to TNC involvement varies by industry and country 152

a In electricity, openness is the greatest in the generation segment 153

b Almost all countries allow TNCs to invest in telecommunications 154

c Water remains highly restricted 154

d Road transport the most open, rail transport the least 155

e Rising concerns related to the strategic nature of infrastructure 155

3 Investment promotion agencies attach growing importance to infrastructure 157

4 Managing different forms of TNC participation 159

5 Factoring in social objectives 161

Page

C INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT AGREEMENTS AND INVESTMENT DISPUTES 162

1 The role of international investment agreements 162

2 Infrastructure-related investment disputes 164

a Many investment disputes are related to infrastructure 164

b Recent arbitral decisions on core IIA provisions 165

(i) Fair and equitable treatment 166

(ii) Expropriation 166

(iii) Umbrella clause 167

3 Conclusions and implications .168

D THE ROLE OF HOME COUNTRIES AND INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 169

 0DNLQJEHWWHUXVHRIRI¿FLDOGHYHORSPHQWDVVLVWDQFH 169

2 Risk-mitigating measures 171

a Coverage for political risk 172

b Coverage for credit risk 174

c Coverage for currency risk 174

3 Capacity-building measures 175

4 Promoting regional infrastructure projects 176

E CONCLUSIONS 176

REFERENCES 183

ANNEXES 197

SELECTED UNCTAD PUBLICATIONS ON TNCs AND FDI 289

QUESTIONNAIRE 293

Boxes I.1 Revision of UNCTAD database on cross-border M&As 7

I.2 FDI and national security: the Report of the United States Government Accountability Office 14

I.3 Dollar depreciation FDI flows to the United States: recent empirical findings 21

I.4 What are SWFs? 22

I.5 How are SWFs different from private equity funds? 22

I.6 Norwegian Government Pension Fund: a “gold standard” for governance of SWFs 26

I.7 Infrastructure TNCs in the top 100 largest TNCs 27

I.8 Banking in the Balkans 32

II.1 FDI in African LDCs: resource exploitation leads to a second year of growth in inflows 41

II.2 Some measures to shift FDI towards greater value added activities: the case of diamonds in Botswana 43

II.3 Changes in national laws and regulations in Africa relating to inward FDI in 2007 44

II.4 COMESA Agreement for a Common Investment Area 45

II.5 Liberalization commitments by Viet Nam under its WTO accession agreement, 2007 52

II.6 Turkish outward FDI in textiles 57

II.7 The Strategic Industry Law of the Russian Federation 71

III.1 Main features of electricity infrastructure 90

III.2 Main features of telecommunications infrastructure 90

III.3 Main features of transport infrastructure 91

III.4 Main features of the water industry 91

III.5 Estimating investment needs and financing gaps 92

III.6 India: Financing infrastructure 93

III.7 Private sector participation in water infrastructure in developing countries 95

III.8 City Power Johannesburg – a successful SOE in infrastructure 95

III.9 Stages of industrial development and infrastructure industries 96

III.10 TNCs and the early globalization of the electricity industry 97

III.11 Selected forms of TNC participation in infrastructure projects 98

III.12 Sources of data on TNC involvement in infrastructure 99

III.13 Interpreting data from the World Bank’s PPI Database 100

III.14 The largest cross-border M&A deals in infrastructure 103

III.15 Divestment by TNCs of infrastructure operations in developing countries 103

III.16 The entry of TNCs in the mobile telephony market in Africa 111

Page

III.17 UNCTAD survey of infrastructure TNCs 114

IV.1 The Angola-China partnership in infrastructure investment 127

IV.2 The potential for independent domestic power producers: the case of Mauritius 132

IV.3 Risks, renegotiations and TNC withdrawals: implications for performance 135

IV.4 The impact of TNC entry on telecommunications coverage in Uganda: how government policies can influence the outcome of TNC participation 138

IV.5 Universal access to water and the debate on public versus private provision 140

V.1 The OECD Principles for Private Sector Participation in Infrastructure 152

V.2 The ECE Guidebook on public-private partnerships 153

V.3 Recent re-nationalizations in infrastructure 155

V.4 UNCTAD survey on openness to TNCs in infrastructure: some preliminary findings 157

V.5 The UNCTAD-WAIPA survey of IPAs 158

V.6 Establishment rights in IIAs 163

V.7 Vivendi v Argentina 165

V.8 Telenor v Hungary 166

V.9 Fraport v the Philippines 167

V.10 The Infrastructure Consortium for Africa 170

V.11 The Global Partnership on Output-Based Aid 171

V.12 Enhancing rural electrification in Lesotho through the Energy Poverty Action 172

V.13 Investment guarantees by the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency 173

V.14 The Grand Inga Hydropower Project 177

V.15 The EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund 178

Box figures II.1.1 African LDCs: FDI inflows in value and as a percentage of gross fixed capital formation, 1995–2007 41

V.6.1 Infrastructure-related sectoral patterns of commitments in the GATS 163

Box tables I.3.1 Regression of changes in foreign assets in the United States on the value of the dollar, quarterly data, 1999–2007 21

I.4.1 Comparison between SWFs and private equity funds, 2007 22

I.7.1 Largest TNCs in infrastructure industries: ranks in 2006 and in the year of entry 27

I.8.1 Largest cross-border M&A deals in the financial sector in the Balkans, 2006–2007 32

II.5.1 Viet Nam: Summary of WTO liberalization commitments on FDI entry in services 52

III.5.1 Asia and Oceania: Varying estimates of infrastructure financing needs for 2006–2010 92

III.6.1 India: estimated annual infrastructure investment needs, financing gaps and FDI flows, various years 93

III.9.1 Stages of development and related infrastructure industries 96

III.11.1 Equity and non-equity forms of TNC involvement in infrastructure 98

III.15.1 Examples of divestment of TNCs in the water industry in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2002–2007 103

III.16.1 Top 10 mobile operators in Africa, ranked by number of local subscribers, 2006 111

V.4.1 Share of countries that legally permit private and foreign companies, respectively, to be involved in selected infrastructure industries, 2008 157

Figures I.1 FDI inflows, global and by groups of economies, 1980–2007 3

I.2 Profitability and profit levels of TNCs, 1997–2007 4

I.3 Worldwide income on FDI and reinvested earnings, 1990–2007 5

I.4 Reinvested earnings of TNCs: value and share in total FDI inflows, 1990–2007 5

I.5 Value of cross-border M&As, 1998–2008 5

I.6 FDI flows, by region, 2005–2007 8

I.7 Transnationality index for host economies, 2005 12

I.8 Matrix of inward FDI performance and potential, 2006 13

I.9 Regulatory changes, by nature and region, 2007 15

I.10 Number of BITs and DTTs concluded, annual and cumulative, 1998–2007 15

I.11 Top 10 signatories of BITs by end 2007 15

I.12 Total number of BITs concluded, by country group, by end of 2007 16

I.13 Total number of DTTs concluded by country group, by end of 2007 16

I.14 Number of known investor-State arbitrations, annual and cumulative, 1992–2007 17

I.15 Impact of financial instability on FDI flows for 2008–2010 18

I.16 Nominal bilateral exchange rate changes of selected currencies, 2000–2008 19

I.17 Impact of depreciation of the United States dollar on global FDI flows for 2008–2010 19

I.18 FDI inflows to the United States and the real effective exchange rate, 1990–2007 20

I.19 Major FDI locations of sovereign wealth funds, 2007 23

Page

I.20 FDI flows by sovereign wealth funds, 1987–2007 23

I.21 FDI by SWFs, by main host groups and top five host economies, end 2007 23

I.22 FDI by SWFs, by main target sectors and top five target industries, end 2007 24

I.23 Location intensity of the 20 most preferred host economies, 2007 28

I.24 TNI values of the top 100 TNCs, 1993–2006 29

I.25 Location intensity of the 20 most preferred host countries for financial TNCs, 2007 33

I.26 Prospects for global FDI flows over the next three years 33

II.1. Africa: FDI inflows in value and as a percentage of gross fixed capital formation, 1995–2007 38

II.2. FDI inflows to Africa, by component, 1995–2007 39

II.3. Africa: top 10 recipients of FDI inflows, 2006–2007 40

II.4. Rates of return on inward FDI by developing regions, 1995–2007 41

II.5. Africa: FDI outflows, 1995–2007 42

II.6. FDI prospects in Africa, 2008–2010 46

II.7 South, East and South-East Asia: FDI inflows in value and as a percentage of gross fixed capital formation, 1995–2007 47

II.8. South, East and South-East Asia: top 10 recipients of FDI inflows, 2006–2007 48

II.9. South, East and South-East Asia: FDI outflows, 1995–2007 49

II.10. South, East and South-East Asia: top 10 sources of FDI outflows, 2006–2007 49

II.11. FDI prospects in South, East and South-East Asia, 2008–2010 53

II.12. West Asia: FDI inflows in value and as a percentage of gross fixed capital formation, 1995–2007 54

II.13. West Asia: top five recipients of FDI inflows, 2006–2007 54

II.14. West Asia: FDI outflows, 1995–2007 55

II.15. West Asia: top five sources of FDI outflows, 2006–2007 56

II.16. FDI prospects in West Asia, 2008–2010 58

II.17 Latin America and the Caribbean: FDI inflows in value and as percentage of gross fixed capital formation, 1995–2007 59

II.18. Latin America and the Caribbean: top 10 recipients of FDI inflows, 2006–2007 59

II.19. Latin America and the Caribbean: rate of return on inward FDI by subregion, 1995–2007 60

II.20. Latin America and the Caribbean: FDI outflows, 1995–2007 61

II.21. Latin America and the Caribbean: top 10 sources of FDI outflows, 2006–2007 62

II.22. FDI prospects in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2008–2010 65

II.23 South-East Europe and CIS: FDI inflows in value and as a percentage of gross fixed capital formation, 1995–2007 66

II.24. South-East Europe and CIS: top 10 recipients of FDI inflows, 2006–2007 67

II.25 Inward FDI Performance and Potential indices rankings of selected countries, 2006 67

II.26 South-East Europe and CIS: FDI outflows, 1995–2007 68

II.27 Distribution of shares among energy companies involved in the Kashagan project, Kazakhstan, 2007 and 2008 70

II.28. FDI prospects in South-East Europe and CIS, 2008–2010 71

II.29 Developed countries: FDI inflows in value and as a percentage of gross fixed capital formation, 1995–2007 72

II.30. Developed countries: top 10 recipients of FDI inflows, 2006–2007 73

II.31. Developed countries: FDI outflows, 2006–2007 75

II.32. Developed countries: top 10 sources of FDI outflows, 2006–2007 76

II.33. FDI prospects in developed countries, 2008–2010 78

III.1 Share of foreign and domestic private and public investors in the investment commitments of the infrastructure industries of developing and transition economies, by industry and region, 1996–2006 101

III.2 FDI inflows in electricity, gas and water, and in telecommunications, 1991–2006 102

III.3 Cross-border M&As in infrastructure by target region, 1991–2007 102

III.4 Cross-border M&A sales in infrastructure by developing target region, 1991–2007 104

III.5 Foreign investment commitments in the infrastructure industries of developing and transition economies, by industry, 1996–2006 104

III.6 Main legal forms of foreign investment commitments in the infrastructure industries of developing and transition economies, by industry, 1996–2006 107

III.7 Significant Chinese and Indian investments in infrastructure in Africa, up to April 2008 119

IV.1 Electricity prices for household users, selected Latin American countries, 1990–2002 136

V.1 Degree of IPA attention to infrastructure industries, 2008 158

V.2 Promotion instruments, by infrastructure industry or service, 2008 159

V.3 Number of known infrastructure-related investment disputes, 1996–2007 164

Tables I.1 Growth rates of FDI inflows denominated in (United States) dollars and in local currencies, 2006–2007 4

I.2 Cross-border M&As valued at over $1 billion, 1987–2008 6

I.3 Cross-border M&As by private equity firms and hedge funds, 1987–2008 6

I.4 Selected indicators of FDI and international production, 1982–2007 10

I.5 Sales and value added of foreign affiliates and inward FDI stock in host developing and former transition economies, most recent available year 11 I.6 Top 20 rankings by Inward and Outward FDI Performance Indices, 2006 and 2007

Page

I.7 National regulatory changes, 1992–2007 13

I.8 Countries with a flat tax rate, 2007 14

I.9 Twenty selected large FDI cases by sovereign wealth funds, 1987–2007 24

I.10 Snapshot of the world’s 100 largest TNCs, 2005, 2006 27

I.11 Top 15 TNCs, ranked by number of host economies of their affiliates 28

I.12 Comparison of TNI values by region, 2005–2006 28

I.13 II values by industries, 2005–2006 29

I.14 Snapshot of the world’s 100 largest TNCs from developing economies, 2005 –2006 29

I.15 Top 15 largest TNCs from developing economies ranked by the number of host economies of their affiliates, 2007 30 I.16 Transnationality of the largest TNCs from developing economies: TNI and II, by regions, 2006 30

I.17 Transnationality of the largest TNCs from developing economies: TNI and II, by major industries, 2006 31

I.18 Average return on sales of selected industries, 2005–2006 31

I.19 M&A deals of over $1.5 billion in the financial sector, 2001–2007 31

I.20 UNCTAD Survey 2008–2010: the most attractive locations for FDI in the next three years 34

II.1. FDI flows, by economic group and region, 2005–2007 37

II.2 Cross-border M&A sales, by sector and by group of economies, 2005–2007 38

II.3 Africa: cross-border M&As, by region/economy, 2005–2007 39

II.4 Africa: distribution of FDI flows among economies, by range, 2007 40

II.5 Africa: cross-border M&As, by sector/industry, 2005–2007 43

II.6 South, East and South-East Asia: distribution of FDI flows among economies, by range, 2007 47

II.7 South, East and South-East Asia: cross-border M&As, by region/economy, 2005–2007 48

II.8 South, East and South-East Asia: cross-border M&As, by sector/industry, 2005–2007 51

II.9 FDI inflows by sector/industry in ASEAN, 2003–2007 51

II.10 West Asia: cross-border M&As, by region/economy, 2005–2007 55

II.11 West Asia: distribution of FDI flows among economies, by range, 2007 55

II.12 West Asia: cross-border M&As, by sector/industry, 2005–2007 57

II.13 Latin America and the Caribbean: cross-border M&As, by region/economy, 2005–2007 60

II.14 Latin America and the Caribbean: distribution of FDI flows among economies, by range, 2007 61

II.15 Latin America and the Caribbean: cross-border M&As, by sector/industry, 2005–2007 63

II.16 Latin America and the Caribbean: 10 largest cross-border M&A deals in electricity, 2007 64

II.17 South-East Europe and CIS: distribution of FDI flows among economies, by range, 2007 67

II.18 South-East Europe and CIS: cross-border M&As, by region/economy, 2005–2007 68

II.19 South-East Europe and CIS: cross-border M&As, by sector/industry, 2005–2007 69

II.20 Production of cars by foreign manufacturers in the Russian Federation, actual and announced, 2007 69

II.21 Developed countries: distribution of FDI flows among economies, by range, 2007 73

II.22 Developed countries: cross-border M&As, by region/economy, 2005–2007 75

II.23 Developed countries: cross-border M&As, by sector/industry, 2005–2007 76

III.1 Infrastructure industries and related activities 89

III.2 Non-competitive and competitive segments of modern infrastructure industries 92

III.3 Sub-Saharan Africa: estimated annual infrastructure investment needs in selected industries, 2006–2015 93

III.4 Inward FDI stock in electricity, gas and water, and in transport, storage and communications, by region, 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2006 99

III.5 Largest outward FDI stocks in infrastructure industries, latest year available 100

III.6 Cross-border M&As in infrastructure by target industry, 1991–2007 102

III.7 Foreign investment commitments in the infrastructure industries of developing economies, by industry and host region, 1996–2006 105

III.8 Industry composition of foreign investment commitments in the infrastructure industries of developing and transition economies, 1996–2006 105

III.9 Industry composition of foreign investment commitments in the infrastructure industries of LDCs, 1996–2006 106

III.10 Sources of foreign investment commitments for the infrastructure industries of LDCs, and of developing and transition economies, 1996–2006 106

III.11 Largest TNCs in infrastructure industries, ranked by foreign assets, 2006 108

III.12 Foreign and total assets of the world’s 100 largest infrastructure TNCs, by home economy and region, 2006 108

III.13 The world’s 100 largest infrastructure TNCs, and the 50 largest infrastructure TNCs of developing and transition economies: industry breakdown, 2006 109

III.14 Foreign and total assets of the 50 largest infrastructure TNCs of developing and transition economies, by home country and region, 2006 109

III.15 Major port operators, ranked by their share in world container port throughput, 2006 112

III.16 Share of the top 5 and top 10 investors in total foreign investment commitments in infrastructure industries in developing and transition economies, 1996–2006 112

III.17 Origin of foreign investment commitments in the infrastructure industries of Africa, Asia and Oceania and Latin America and the Caribbean, 1996–2006 112

IV.1 TNCs’ share of private sector investment commitments in developing economies, all infrastructure industries, 1996–2006 129

IV.2 Estimated market share ranges of mobile telecommunications operators with TNC participation in selected countries, end 2007 133 IV.3 Indicators of performance improvements in electricity by distributors in Latin America:

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changes in selected indicators from the year of privatization to 1998 133

IV.4 Top 10 countries by change in UNCTAD ICT Diffusion Index, 1997–2005 138

V.1 Foreign ownership restrictions in telecommunications, selected developing countries, latest year 154

V.2 Private sector and TNC involvement in water projects, selected developing economies, December 2007 156

V.3 Share of IPAs that promote FDI into specific infrastructure industries, by region, 2008 158

V.4 Capacity-building facilities for infrastructure projects in Africa, 2006 175

Annex A A.I.1 Number of greenfield FDI projects, by source/destination, 2003-2008 199

A.I.2 Number of greenfield FDI projects, by sector/industry, 2003-2008 203

A.I.3 Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2007 204

A.I.4 Various types of cross-border M&A cases in the UNCTAD database 206

A.I.5 Estimated world inward FDI stock, by sector and industry, 1990 and 2006 207

A.I.6 Estimated world outward FDI stock, by sector and industry, 1990 and 2006 208

A.I.7 Estimated world inward FDI flows, by sector and industry, 1989–1991 and 2004–2006 209

A.I.8 Estimated world outward FDI flows, by sector and industry, 1989–1991 and 2004–2006 210

A.I.9 Number of parent corporations and foreign affiliates, by region and economy, latest available year 211

A.I.10 Country rankings by Inward FDI Performance Index, Inward FDI Potential Index and Outward FDI Performance Index, 2005–2007 214

A.I.11 List of major sovereign wealth funds, 2007 216

A.I.12 Largest cross-border M&A deals by sovereign wealth funds ranked 21 st –50 th , 1987–2007 217

A.I.13 Selected cross-border M&A deals by sovereign wealth funds, by target region/economy, 1987–2007 218

A.I.14 Selected cross-border M&A deals by sovereign wealth funds, by industry of the target country, 1987–2007 219

A.I.15 The world’s top 100 non-financial TNCs, ranked by foreign assets, 2006 220

A.I.16 The top 100 non-financial TNCs from developing countries, ranked by foreign assets, 2006 223

A.I.17 The top 50 financial TNCs ranked by Geographic Spread Index (GSI), 2006 226

A.II.1 List of strategic industries in the Strategic Industry Law of the Russian Federation of May 2008 227

A.III.1 Inward FDI stock of selected economies in infrastructure, 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2006 229

A.III.2 Outward FDI stock from selected economies in infrastructure, 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2006 235

A.III.3 The 25 largest cross-border M&A deals in infrastructure, 1991–2007 238

A.III.4 The world’s 100 largest infrastructure TNCs, ranked by foreign assets, 2006 239

A.III.5 The 50 largest infrastructure TNCs of developing and transition economies, ranked by foreign assets, 2006 241

A.III.6 The 50 largest foreign investors in infrastructure commitments in Africa, 1996–2006 242

A.III.7 The 50 largest foreign investors in infrastructure commitments in Asia, 1996–2006 243

A.III.8 The 50 largest foreign investors in infrastructure commitments in Latin America and the Caribbean, 1996–2006 244

A.V.1 Arbitral awards in known infrastructure investment disputes, 1997–2007 245

A.V.2 Bilateral and multilateral donor commitments to selected infrastructure industries, 1995–2006 247

DEFINITIONS AND SOURCES 249

Annex B B.1 FDI flows, by region and economy, 2005–2007 253

B.2 FDI stock, by region and economy, 1990, 2000, 2007 257

B.3 FDI flows as a percentage of gross fixed capital formation, 2005–2007, and FDI stocks as a percentage of gross domestic product, 1990, 2000, 2007, by region and economy 261

B.4 Value of cross-border M&As, by region/economy of seller/purchaser, 2005–2008 272

B.5 Number of cross-border M&As, by region/economy of seller/purchaser, 2005–2008 275

B.6 Value of cross-border M&As, by sector/industry, 2005–2008 278

B.7 Number of cross-border M&As, by sector/industry, 2005–2008 279

B.8 Number of foreign affiliates in the host economy and of foreign affiliates of home-based TNCs, 2003–2005 280

B.9 Employment in foreign affiliates in the host economy and in foreign affiliates of home-based TNCs, 2003–2005 281

B.10 Assets of foreign affiliates in the host economy and of foreign affiliates of home-based TNCs, 2003–2005 282

B.11 Wages and salaries in foreign affiliates in the host economy and in foreign affiliates of home-based TNCs, 2003–2005 282

B.12 Sales of foreign affiliates in the host economy and of foreign affiliates of home-based TNCs, 2003–2005 283

B.13 Value added of foreign affiliates in the host economy and of foreign affiliates of home-based TNCs, 2003–2005 284

B.14 Profits of foreign affiliates in the host economy and of foreign affiliates of home-based TNCs, 2003–2005 284

B.15 Exports of foreign affiliates in the host economy and of foreign affiliates of home-based TNCs, 2003–2005 285

B.16 Imports of foreign affiliates in the host economy and of foreign affiliates of home-based TNCs, 2003–2005 286

B.17 R&D expenditures of foreign affiliates in the host economy and of foreign affiliates of home-based TNCs, 2003–2005 286

B.18 Royalty receipts and payments of foreign affiliates in the host economy and of foreign affiliates of home-based TNCs, 2003–2005 287

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ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations

BROT build, rehabilitate, operate and transfer

COMESA Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa

DR-CAFTA Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (with the United States

ESCAP Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

GATS General Agreement on Trade in Services (of WTO)

ICA Infrastructure Consortium for Africa

ICSID International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes

JBIC Japan Bank for International Cooperation

M&A merger and acquisition

MERCOSUR Southern Common Market (Mercado Común del Sur)

ODA official development assistance

OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

PPI private participation in infrastructure (also PPI Database of the World Bank)

ROT rehabilitate-own-transfer

SIC Standard Industrial Classification

TNC transnational corporation

UNCITRAL United Nations Commission on International Trade Law

UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

WAIPA World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies

RECORD FLOWS IN 2007, BUT SET

TO DECLINE

Global FDI flows surpassed the

peak of 2000…

After four consecutive years of

growth, global FDI inflows rose in 2007 by

30% to reach $1,833 billion, well above the

previous all-time high set in 2000 Despite

the financial and credit crises, which began

in the second half of 2007, all the three

major economic groupings – developed

countries, developing countries and the

transition economies of South-East Europe

and the Commonwealth of Independent

States (CIS) – saw continued growth in their

inflows The increase in FDI largely reflected

relatively high economic growth and strong

corporate performance in many parts of the

world Reinvested earnings accounted for

about 30% of total FDI inflows as a result

of increased profits of foreign affiliates,

notably in developing countries To some

extent, the record FDI levels in dollar terms

also reflected the significant depreciation of

the dollar against other major currencies

However, even measured in local currencies,

the average growth rate of global FDI flows

was still 23% in 2007

FDI inflows into developed countries

reached $1,248 billion The United States

maintained its position as the largest recipient

country, followed by the United Kingdom,

France, Canada and the Netherlands The

European Union (EU) was the largest host

region, attracting almost two thirds of total

FDI inflows into developed countries

In developing countries FDI inflows reached their highest level ever ($500 billion) – a 21% increase over 2006 The least developed countries (LDCs) attracted

$13 billion worth of FDI in 2007 – also a record high At the same time, developing countries continued to gain in importance

as sources of FDI, with outflows rising to

a new record level of $253 billion, mainly

as a result of outward expansion by Asian TNCs FDI inflows into South-East Europe and the CIS also surged, increasing by 50%,

to reach $86 billion in 2007 The region has thus seen seven years of uninterrupted growth Outflows from this region similarly soared, to $51 billion, more than twice the 2006 level Among developing and transition economies, the three largest recipients were China, Hong Kong (China) and the Russian Federation

driven by record values of cross-border M&As.

Continued consolidation through cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) contributed substantially to the global surge in FDI In 2007, the value

of such transactions amounted to $1,637 billion, 21% higher than the previous record in 2000 Thus, overall, the financial crisis, starting with the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the United States, did not have avisible dampening effect on global cross-border M&As in 2007 On the contrary,

2008

in the latter half of 2007 some very large deals took

place, including the $98 billion acquisition of

ABN-AMRO Holding NV by the consortium of Royal

Bank of Scotland, Fortis and Santander – the largest

deal in banking history – and the acquisition of Alcan

(Canada) by Rio Tinto (United Kingdom)

The largest TNCs pursued further

expansion abroad…

The production of goods and services by an

estimated 79,000 TNCs and their 790,000 foreign

affiliates continues to expand, and their FDI stock

exceeded $15 trillion in 2007 UNCTAD estimates

that total sales of TNCs amounted to $31 trillion –

a 21% increase over 2006 The value added (gross

product) of foreign affiliates worldwide represented

an estimated 11% of global GDP in 2007, and the

number of employees rose to some 82 million

The universe of TNCs is expanding

Manufacturing and petroleum companies, such as

General Electric, British Petroleum, Shell, Toyota

and Ford Motor, retain some of the top positions in

UNCTAD’s ranking of the 25 largest non-financial

TNCs in the world However, TNCs in services,

including in infrastructure, have become increasingly

prominent during the past decade: 20 of them featured

among the top 100 in 2006, compared with only 7 in

1997

The activities of the 100 largest TNCs

increased significantly in 2006, with foreign sales and

foreign employment almost 9% and 7% higher than

in 2005, respectively Growth was particularly high

for the 100 largest TNCs from developing countries:

in 2006, their foreign assets were estimated at $570

billion – a 21% increase over 2005 Their countries of

origin have changed little over the past 10 years, with

companies from East and South-East Asia dominating

the list of the top 25 such TNCs

….while sovereign wealth funds are

emerging as new actors on the FDI

scene.

A new feature of global FDI is the emergence

of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) as direct investors

Benefiting from a rapid accumulation of reserves in

recent years, these funds (with $5 trillion assets under

management) tend to have a higher risk tolerance

and higher expected returns than traditional official

reserves managed by monetary authorities Although

the history of SWFs dates back to the 1950s, they

have attracted global attention only in recent years

following their involvement in some large-scale

cross-border M&A activities and their major capital

injections into some troubled financial institutions in developed countries

While the amounts invested by SWFs in the form of FDI remain relatively small, they have been growing in recent years Only 0.2% of their total assets in 2007 were related to FDI However, of the

$39 billion investments abroad by SWFs over the past two decades, as much as $31 billion was committed in the past three years Their recent activities have been driven by the rapid build up of reserves generated

by export surpluses, changes in global economic fundamentals and new investment opportunities in structurally weakened financial firms

Almost 75% of the FDI by SWFs has been in developed countries, with investments in Africa and Latin America very limited so far Their investments have been concentrated in services, mainly business services

Investments by SWFs in the banking industry

in 2006-2007 were generally welcomed, owing to their stabilizing effect on financial markets However, they also prompted some negative public sentiment, with calls to impose regulatory restrictions on investments

by these funds, notably on national security grounds International institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), are in the process of establishing principles and guidelines relating to FDI by SWFs

Most national policy changes continued to encourage FDI, though less favourable measures became more frequent.

Despite growing concerns and political debate over rising protectionism, the overall policy trend remains one of greater openness to FDI UNCTAD’s annual survey of changes in national laws and regulations that may influence the entry and operations of TNCs suggests that policymakers are continuing in their efforts to make the investment climate more attractive In 2007, of the almost 100 policy changes identified by UNCTAD as having a potential bearing on FDI, 74 aimed at making the host country environment more favourable to FDI However, the proportion of changes that were less favourable to FDI has been increasing over the past few years

As in 2006, most of the new restrictions introduced were concentrated in the extractive industries, particularly in Latin America (e.g Bolivia, Ecuador and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela), but they were also apparent in other countries as well Several governments, including those of the United

States and the Russian Federation, adopted stricter

regulations with regard to investments in projects

that have potential implications for national security

Government concerns also appear to be directed

towards investments in certain infrastructure areas

and those undertaken by State-owned entities

The number of international investment

agreements (IIAs) continued to grow, reaching a total

of almost 5,600 at the end of 2007 There were 2,608

bilateral investment treaties (BITs), 2,730 double

taxation treaties (DTTs) and 254 free trade agreements

(FTAs) and economic cooperation arrangements

containing investment provisions The shift in

treaty-making activity from BITs towards FTAs continued,

as did the trend towards renegotiation of existing

BITs

The global financial crisis had a limited

impact on FDI flows in 2007, but will

begin to bite in 2008.

The sub-prime mortgage crisis that erupted

in the United States in 2007 has affected financial

markets and created liquidity problems in many

countries, leading to higher costs of credit However,

both micro- and macroeconomic impacts affecting the

capacity of firms to invest abroad appear to have been

relatively limited so far As TNCs in most industries

had ample liquidity to finance their investments,

reflected in high corporate profits, the impact was

smaller than expected At the macroeconomic level,

developed-country economies could be affected both

by the slowdown of the United States economy as

well as by the impact of the turmoil in the financial

markets on liquidity As a result, both inflows to and

outflows from these countries may decline On the

other hand, the relatively resilient economic growth

of developing economies may counteract this risk

In addition to the credit crunch in the United

States, the global economy was also affected by the

significant depreciation of the dollar While it is

difficult to isolate the effects of exchange rate changes

from other determinants of FDI flows, the sharp

weakening of the dollar helped to stimulate FDI to the

United States European FDI to the United States was

spurred by the increased relative wealth of European

investors and reduced investment costs in the United

States Moreover, companies exporting to the United

States have suffered from the exchange rate changes,

which have induced them to expand local production

in the United States This is illustrated by changes in

the strategy of several European TNCs, particularly

carmakers, that plan to build new or expand existing production facilities in that country

The slowdown in the world economy and the financial turmoil have led to a liquidity crisis in money and debt markets in many developed countries

As a result, M&A activity has begun to slow down markedly In the first half of 2008, the value of such transactions was 29% lower than that in the second half of 2007 Corporate profits and syndicated bank loans are also declining Based on available data, estimated annualized FDI flows for the whole of 2008 are expected to be about $1,600 billion, representing

a 10% decline from 2007 Meanwhile, FDI flows to developing countries are likely to be less affected

UNCTAD’s World Investment Prospects Survey, 2008–2010, while also suggesting a rising trend in

the medium term, points to a lower level of optimism than was expressed in the previous survey, and to more caution in TNCs’ investment expenditure plans than in 2007

In Africa, high commodity prices and rising profitability attracted FDI.

In Africa, FDI inflows grew to $53 billion in

2007 – a new record Booming commodity markets, rising profitability of investments – the highest among developing regions in 2006-2007 – and improved policy environments fuelled inflows LDCs in Africa also registered another year of growth in their FDI inflows A large proportion of the FDI projects launched in the region in 2007 were linked to the extraction of natural resources The commodity price boom also help Africa to maintain the relatively high level of outward FDI, which amounted to $6 billion

in 2007

Despite higher inflows, Africa’s share in global FDI remained at about 3% TNCs from the United States and Europe were the main investors in the region, followed by African investors, particularly from South Africa TNCs from Asia concentrated mainly on oil and gas extraction and infrastructure Prospects for increased FDI inflows in 2008 are promising in light of the continuing high prices of commodities, large projects already announced for that year and forthcoming payments from previously concluded cross-border M&As This will signify a fourth consecutive year of FDI growth The UNCTAD survey shows that almost all TNCs have maintained

or even increased their current levels of investment

in Africa

In South, East and South-East Asia

and Oceania, both inward and outward

FDI flows rose to their highest levels

ever.

FDI flows to South, East and South-East

Asia and Oceania were also higher than ever before,

reaching $249 billion in 2007 Most subregions and

economies, except Oceania, received higher inflows

A combination of favourable business perceptions,

progress towards further regional economic

integration, improved investment environments and

country-specific factors contributed to the region’s

performance China and Hong Kong (China) remained

the two top destinations within the region as well as

among all developing economies Meanwhile, India –

the largest recipient in South Asia – and most member

countries of the Association of Southeast Asian

Nations (ASEAN) also attracted larger inflows, as

did post-conflict countries and Asian LDCs, such as

Afghanistan, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Timor-Leste

Overall, prospects for new FDI to the region

remain very promising Sustained economic

growth, demographic changes, favourable business

sentiments and new investment opportunities were

among the main factors contributing to the region’s

good performance in 2007, and they should continue

to attract FDI in the near future

FDI outflows from South, East and

South-East Asia also reached a new high, amounting to

$150 billion, reflecting the growing importance of

developing countries as outward investors Intra-

and inter-regional flows are a particularly important

feature But firms are investing in developed countries

as well, not least through cross-border M&As SWFs

from the region have emerged as significant investors,

contributing to the region’s rapidly growing outward

FDI stock: this jumped from $1.1 trillion in 2006 to

$1.6 trillion in 2007

West Asia also saw record flows in

both directions…

FDI in West Asia rose by 12% to $71 billion,

marking a new record and a fifth consecutive year

of growth More than four fifths of the inflows

were concentrated in three countries: Saudi Arabia,

Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, in that order A

growing number of energy and construction projects,

as well as a notable improvement in the business

environment in 2007, attracted FDI into members of

the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) For example,

Qatar experienced a significant rise in inflows – more

than seven times higher than in 2006.

FDI outflows from the region in 2007 increased

for the fourth consecutive year, to $44 billion –

nearly six times its level in 2004 The GCC countries (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman, in that order) accounted for 94% of these outflows, reflecting in part their desire to diversify away from oil and gas production through investments by SWFs Intraregional FDI was significant, particularly from oil-rich countries, as confirmed by a growing number of greenfield projects and the increasing value of cross-border M&As FDI inflows into West Asia are expected to rise in 2008, as countries in the region have remained largely unaffected by the sub-prime mortgage crisis, and a significant number of intraregional investment projects are in the pipeline

… while the surge of FDI into Latin America and the Caribbean was mainly driven by the demand for natural

resources.

Latin America and the Caribbean saw inflows rise by 36% to a historic high of $126 billion The increase was the highest in South America (66%), where most of the $72 billion worth of inflows targeted the extractive industries and natural-resource-based manufacturing Inflows to countries in Central America and the Caribbean (excluding offshore financial centres) increased by 30% to $34 billion, despite the economic slowdown in the United States This resilience was partly explained by the dynamism

of FDI in mining, steel and banking, which are not oriented primarily towards the United States market FDI outflows from the region fell by 17%

to $52 billion, mainly reflecting a return to more

“normal” levels of outward investment from Brazil Latin American TNCs, mainly from Mexico and Brazil, continued to internationalize, competing for leadership in such industries as oil and gas, metal mining, cement, steel, and food and beverages In addition, many new Latin American companies began emerging in new sectors such as software, petrochemicals and biofuels

In the extractive industries, in which FDI increased as a result of the high commodity prices, the picture differed between oil and gas and metal mining In metal mining, the scope for inward FDI is greater, as there are no major State-owned companies

in the region, except Codelco in Chile In oil and gas,

by contrast, the dominant position, or even exclusive presence, of State-owned oil and gas companies limits the opportunities for foreign investors This situation was accentuated in 2007, as a number of countries, including Bolivia, the Bolivarian Republic

of Venezuela and Ecuador, adopted policy changes

to increase taxation and further restrict or prohibit foreign investment in oil and gas

FDI to and from Latin America and the

Caribbean is expected to increase further in 2008

Inflows would be driven mainly by South America,

where high commodity prices and strong subregional

economic growth should continue to boost TNCs’

profits However, the level of future inflows into

Central America and the Caribbean is uncertain, as the

slowdown of the United States economy and a weak

dollar could adversely affect their export-oriented

manufacturing activities Outflows are expected to be

boosted by TNCs in Brazil and Mexico, which have

already announced ambitious investment plans for

2008

FDI to and from South-East

Europe and the Commonwealth of

Independent States maintained an

upward trend and set new records.

As in most other regions, inflows to and

from South-East Europe and the CIS reached

unprecedentedly high levels Inward FDI rose for a

seventh consecutive year, to reach $86 billion – 50%

more than in 2006 In the CIS, these inflows were

mainly attracted to fast growing consumer markets

and natural resources, while those to South-East

Europe were associated with privatizations Inward

FDI in the Russian Federation increased by 62%, to

$52 billion

Outward FDI from South-East Europe and the

CIS amounted to $51 billion, more than double its 2006

level FDI from the Russian Federation – the main

source country in the region – soared to $46 billion

in 2007 Russian TNCs have extended their reach to

Africa with the aim of increasing their raw material

supplies and their access to strategic commodities

These are needed to support their efforts to increase

their downstream presence in the energy industry and

their value-added production activities in the metals

industry of developed countries

Whereas most of the national policy changes of

the transition economies in 2007 were in the direction

of greater openness to FDI, some CIS countries

continued to introduce restrictions in the extractive

industries and some other strategic industries The

Russian Federation approved the long-discussed

Strategic Sector Law, which specifies industries in

which foreign investors are allowed only minority

participation In Kazakhstan, a newly approved natural resources law allows the Government to change existing contracts unilaterally if they adversely affect the country’s economic interests in the oil, metal and mineral industries Nevertheless, FDI flows are expected to be buoyant in these two countries as well

2007, to reach $1,248 – yet another record The rise was mainly driven by cross-border M&As, but also

by reinvested earnings as a result of high profitability

of foreign affiliates The United States retained its position as the world’s largest FDI recipient country The restructuring and concentration process in the enlarged common market of the EU countries led

to a renewed wave of cross-border acquisitions Large FDI flows to the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands and Spain drove overall FDI inflows to the EU to $804 billion – a 43% increase Japan’s FDI inflows grew strongly for the first time since the end

of the 1990s

Developed countries maintained their position

as the largest net outward investors, as outflows soared to a record $1,692 billion The largest outward investors – the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain (in that order) – accounted for 64% of the total outward FDI of the group

The policy environment for FDI in a number

of developed countries continues to be one of greater openness, with some exceptions There are, however, growing concerns over the possible negative effects

of cross-border investments by SWFs, as well as private equity and hedge funds

FDI to and from developed countries is expected to fall because of the dampening effects of the financial market crisis, combined with weaker economic growth in these economies The value

of cross-border M&As in developed countries fell considerably in the first half of 2008, compared

with the second half of 2007 In UNCTAD’s World Investment Prospects Survey 2008–2010, 39% of

the responding TNCs anticipated an increase in FDI inflows into developed countries compared with more than 50% in last year’s survey

There are huge unmet investment

needs for infrastructure in developing

countries.

The provision of good quality infrastructure is

a prerequisite for economic and social development

Indeed it is considered one of the main preconditions

for enabling developing countries to accelerate or

sustain the pace of their development and achieve the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set by the

United Nations

Moreover, the future investment needs of

developing countries in infrastructure far exceed

the amounts being invested by governments, the

private sector and other stakeholders, resulting in a

significant financing gap On average, according to

World Bank estimates, developing countries currently

invest annually 3–4% of their GDP in infrastructure;

yet they would need to invest an estimated 7–9%

to achieve broader economic growth and poverty

reduction goals

Partly because of the scale of investment

required in infrastructure, there has been a fundamental

change in the role of the State around the world

Governments have opened infrastructure industries

and services up to much greater involvement by the

private sector – including TNCs After the Second

World War, and until the 1980s, infrastructure

industries were by and large the purview of the State,

sometimes through corporatized forms, such as

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) Since then they have been

gradually liberalized, though the pace and degree

have varied by industry and country As a result, the

relationship between the State and the private sector

has evolved, with the State increasingly assuming the

role of regulator of activities performed by private,

and often foreign, companies This new relationship

will continue to change in response to technological

progress, growing experience with private sector

involvement and shifting political priorities

In addition to developing-country TNCs in

infrastructure (mentioned below), “new players” in

infrastructure have emerged including a heterogeneous

set of institutions belonging to two broad groups:

private equity investors, and State-owned or

Government-linked entities such as sovereign wealth

funds

WIR08 focuses on economic infrastructure,

including electricity, telecommunications, water

and sewage, airports, roads, railways and seaports

(the last four collectively referred to as transport) Analyses of TNC activities, development effects and policy recommendations need to take into account the main features of these industries First, infrastructure investments are typically very capital-intensive and complex Second, infrastructure services often involve (physical) networks, and are frequently oligopolistic or monopolistic in nature Third, many societies regard access to infrastructure services

as a social and political issue Such services may

be considered public goods, in the sense that they should be available to all users, and some, such as water supply, are considered a human right Fourth, infrastructure industries are a major determinant

of the competitiveness of an economy as a whole, and the quality of infrastructure is an important determinant of FDI Fifth, infrastructure is key to economic development and integration into the world economy

TNC participation in infrastructure has increased substantially, including in developing and transition economies.

Infrastructure industries account for a rapidly expanding share of the stock of inward FDI Over the period 1990–2006, the value of FDI in infrastructure worldwide increased 31-fold, to $786 billion, and that in developing countries increased 29-fold, to an estimated $199 billion Throughout the period it continued to grow in most infrastructure industries, but most significantly in electricity and telecommunications, and much less in transport and water As a whole, the share of infrastructure in total FDI stock globally currently hovers at close to 10% compared to only 2% in 1990

Another measure, foreign investment commitments in private participation in infrastructure (PPI) projects (which include FDI, but also other investments that are an element of concessions), also indicates that TNCs have invested significantly

in developing countries During the period 1996–

2006 such commitments amounted to about $246 billion, with a concentration in Latin America and the Caribbean between 1996 and 2000 (the region accounted for 67% of commitments); but since the turn of the century TNC participation in PPIs has grown relatively faster in Africa and Asia

The group of LDCs has remained by and

large marginalized in the process of globalization

TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS AND THE INFRASTRUCTURE CHALLENGE

of infrastructure investment, accounting for about

2% of the stock of infrastructure FDI in developing

countries in 2006 Their share in the foreign

investment commitments in infrastructure industries

of developing economies in the period 1996–2006 (of

$246 billion) was a little over 5%

The form of TNC involvement varies

considerably by industry Telecommunications is the

only infrastructure industry in which FDI has been

the dominant form of TNC entry in developing and

transition economies In electricity concessions were

the most frequent modes of entry (62% of the cases),

followed by privatizations and greenfield projects

(36%) Foreign participation was also predominantly

in the form of concessions in transport infrastructure

(more than 80%), and in water (70% of the projects)

The water industry also used management and lease

contracts relatively frequently (25%)

Developing-country firms are

significant infrastructure TNCs and are

becoming prominent investors in other

developing countries.

Although developed-country TNCs still

dominate in infrastructure industries internationally,

there has been a marked rise involvement by

developing-country TNCs In some industries,

such as telecommunications, they have emerged

as major players, and in others, such as transport,

they have even become world leaders Of the top

100 infrastructure TNCs in the world in 2006,

14 were from the United States, 10 from Spain,

and 8 each from France and the United Kingdom

However, of the top 100 infrastructure TNCs, no

less than 22 were headquartered in a developing

or transition economy The largest number of such

firms was from Hong Kong (China) with 5 firms,

and Malaysia and Singapore with 3 each

To varying degrees, TNCs from the South are

playing a more prominent role in the infrastructure

industries of developing countries, though

they do not invest as much as their

developed-country counterparts In Asia and Oceania, TNC

involvement from other developing economies,

especially intraregional investment, is particularly

pronounced In 1996–2006 almost half of foreign

investment commitments in infrastructure in Asia

and Oceania originated in developing countries,

and in two industries (telecommunications and

transport), TNCs from the South accounted for the

largest share of foreign commitments In Africa,

developing-country investors have been dominant in

telecommunications (58% of all commitments), but

are less important in other infrastructure industries

On average, developing-country firms account for

40% of all commitments in Africa Finally, in Latin America and the Caribbean the role of developing-

country investors has been more limited (16% of private commitments) (Note that “all commitments” include any made by the State or SOEs where they have a share in PPI projects However, investments

in infrastructure made solely by the State or SOEs are excluded.)

TNCs in infrastructure derive their competitive advantages from a variety

of sources and invest abroad mostly to access markets.

Competitive or ownership advantages of infrastructure TNCs are primarily related to specialist expertise or capabilities, such as network design and operation, engineering skills, environmental know-how, project management capabilities and tacit, hands-on skills Specialized business models and financial prowess are important in some industries and segments, such as telecommunications

The majority of infrastructure TNCs invest abroad in order to access the markets of host economies They aim at benefiting from market opportunities arising from a number of sources, including the liberalization and deregulation in host economies, invitations to tenders for infrastructure projects, and the opening up of host countries to foreign acquisition of local firms (including privatization and acquisition of private firms) Additional motivations for investment can include following clients in the infrastructure business, searching for economies of scale and taking advantage of regional growth opportunities The primacy of the host country market as a motive for infrastructure TNC involvement in developing economies places LDCs at a disadvantage in attracting them, as they have small markets in general and in infrastructure industries more specifically

TNCs’ mobilization of financial resources for infrastructure investment is rising, but a vast gap remains.

Financial constraints faced by governments were a major reason for an increasing number of developing countries to open up to FDI and TNC participation in infrastructure industries in the 1990s TNC participation in infrastructure in developing countries has resulted in the inflow of substantial financial resources The stock of infrastructure FDI

in developing countries, an indicator of the extent

to which TNC participation mobilizes financial resources, surged after 1990, as mentioned above

The $246 billion foreign investment

commitments in infrastructure in developing

countries during 1996-2006 (also mentioned earlier)

represented an average of 29% of all PPI investment

commitments This reflects the importance of

TNCs’ contribution to these industries in developing

countries, with the highest share in Africa (36%)

Despite significant levels of TNC investment

in developing-country infrastructure, more of it is

required to bridge the vast financing gap: there is need

for substantial amounts of additional investment,

irrespective of source For instance, in Africa, total

TNC investment commitments in infrastructure

during the decade spanning 1996–2006 were $45

billion – an amount that is barely equivalent to the

region’s current annual infrastructure investment

needs of $40 billion

In a similar vein, investment in infrastructure

by foreign companies in the 1990s was connected

with a decline in public investment in the sector

across much of Latin America In expectation of a

large-scale increase in private sector investment,

many countries cut back on public expenditure in

infrastructure, but the increase in investment by

TNCs (and the domestic private sector) did not fully

compensate for this decline An important lesson

from this experience is that TNC participation should

not be considered sufficient to provide for a country’s

investment needs in infrastructure industries; rather,

it should be viewed as an important supplement and

complement to domestic investments

TNC investment in

developing-country infrastructure affects industry

performance …

TNCs in infrastructure bring both hard

technology (e.g specialist equipment for water

purification) and soft technology (e.g organizational

and managerial practices) to their operations in

host countries As regards hard technology in

telecommunications, for instance market entry by

international operators from both developing and

developed countries has contributed to lowering the

threshold of access to and usage of information and

communication technologies for developing countries

TNCs also transfer soft technology to host-country

operations, for instance by re-engineering operational

processes, improving procurement and subcontracting

practices, and enhancing client records and collection

methods Overall, studies show that in a number of

cases the introduction of hard and soft technology

by foreign affiliates has helped enhance productivity

in services provision, as well as its reliability and

quality However context matters, and performance

gains as a consequence of TNC (and more generally

private) involvement depend very much on a defined regulatory environment

well-The industry-wide impact of technology transfer by TNCs also depends on the diffusion of technology to other firms in the industry through a number of routes of transmission, including joint ventures, mobility of personnel and demonstration effects For instance, in China’s electricity generation industry, TNC participation in large joint-venture projects has involved systematic and comprehensive project management cooperation between foreign investors and their Chinese counterparts This has enabled the latter to enhance their expertise and efficiency For the effective diffusion of technology from infrastructure TNCs, the existence of capable domestic enterprises is essential

The higher the contestability of an infrastructure industry, the more likely it is that TNC participation will contribute to enhanced efficiency through increased competition For example, in many countries, a competitive market structure has been established in telecommunications as a consequence

of technological change and industry reforms In Uganda, for instance, competition between the national provider and TNCs led to price reductions and a rapid increase in penetration of mobile telephony Cross-country studies have shown the complementarities between privatization and competition: competition increases the gains from privatization, and vice versa

On the other hand, in water supply, which is an example of an industry that is still essentially a natural monopoly, the entry of TNCs can result in State monopolies being turned into private, foreign-owned monopolies This limits competition and thus the scope for efficiency enhancement In other services, while the entry of TNCs can increase competition and thus efficiency, it may also pre-empt the entry

of domestic players or crowd out existing ones In electricity and telecommunications – both relatively contestable industries – the experience of a number

of developing countries indicates that infrastructure TNCs can in some cases be associated with anti-competitive behaviour

In some developing countries, where domestic capabilities exist, local private participants can enhance their competitiveness and efficiency by collaborating with TNCs in a variety of ways For example partial privatization, with minority ownership participation by TNCs, has been implemented by developing countries such as Morocco in telecommunications, with favourable results for competition As an alternative to TNC involvement, some developing countries have also been able to improve the performance of public utilities through corporatization reforms without

direct TNC participation However, successful

cases are mainly in relatively high-income or large

developing economies

…with implications for the provision of

infrastructure services and universal

access.

The participation of TNCs has generally

increased the supply and improved the quality of

infrastructure services in host countries, but their

impact on prices has varied In some instances this

has caused concern over services being priced beyond

the reach of the poor In particular, the affordability

of services is jointly determined by the price of

services and the disposable income of consumers in

an economy The impact of TNC participation on

access to services can thus differ among segments of

a society: improvements in industry performance do

not necessarily translate into increased availability

and affordability of services for all members of a

society, especially the poor and people living in rural,

remote and economically deprived areas

Improvements in supply, coverage of services,

price and access as a result of TNC participation

in developing countries are more pronounced in

telecommunications than in any other infrastructure

industry, especially in mobile telephony Many

developing countries have experienced a “mobile

revolution”: new business models introduced by

TNCs have enabled the expansion of mobile services

into low-income segments TNC entry into the

transport industry of developing countries is far more

varied than in other areas International terminal

operators, for instance, have considerably improved

the quality of services in major ports and thereby

increased developing-country connectivity to the

global economy

In contrast to telecommunications, and to a

lesser extent transport, the impact in electricity and

water has been mixed The impact of TNC participation

on prices, and thus access to electricity and water,

depends on political, social and contractual issues,

as well as productivity and efficiency gains In the

absence of government subsidies to users, additions

to supply capacity and productivity and efficiency

improvements may be insufficient to maintain low

prices while covering costs Prices can continue to be

subsidized after entry by the private sector, although

countries sometimes raise tariffs both to attract

companies and to reduce subsidies

Evidence from a number of developing

countries suggests that greater private sector

investment – often with TNC involvement – has

in many cases led to increased supply capacity and

network connections in electricity, and thereby to

steady improvements in the reliability and quality

of service in the industry Given the many factors involved, electricity prices have sometimes fallen after TNC entry, but overall there has been no definite trend in prices, up or down The impact

of TNC participation on users’ access to water has

been disappointing in many cases, though there is some evidence that well-designed schemes for TNC participation have led to significant service expansion Partly because TNC participation has sometimes not met expectations of improved access, there have been cancellations of water concessions in countries such

as Argentina, Bolivia and the Philippines

In summary, in the telecommunications and transport industries, TNCs have contributed substantially to making services more affordable and accessible For those services that are considered essential, such as drinking water, if the efficiency

improvements achieved by TNCs cannot allow them

to maintain prices at low levels while covering costs, and the government does not provide subsidies to users, access for the poor is affected Government policies are critical for all infrastructure industries, but, from a social perspective, more so in the case of electricity and water

Leveraging TNC participation is a complex policy challenge.

Host countries need to consider when it is appropriate to draw TNCs into the development and management of infrastructure They also need to find ways of ensuring that projects with TNC involvement lead to the expected development effects This is a complex policy challenge

As policy priorities and options vary between countries, so too does the optimal mix of public and private (including TNC) investment Designing and implementing appropriate policies to harness the potential role of TNCs in infrastructure require adequate skills and capabilities Governments need

to prioritize among competing demands for different projects, establish clear and realistic objectives for the projects chosen, and integrate them into broader development strategies This means that government agencies have to possess the necessary institutional capacity and skills to guide, negotiate, regulate and monitor the projects This applies not only at the central level, but also in provincial and municipal governments

While many developing countries seek foreign investment to develop their physical infrastructure, convincing foreign companies to invest has in many cases become even more challenging Growing demand in the developed world and in large emerging

economies is leading potential investors to expect

higher returns for a given level of risk This poses

a particular problem where large-scale capital

investments are needed up-front, where cost-recovery

is difficult to achieve and where social concerns are

considerable Project failures and multiple investment

disputes have furthermore contributed to a more

cautious attitude towards infrastructure projects

among overseas investors

Countries seek greater TNC

involvement in infrastructure, but

openness varies by industry.

The trend towards opening has been more

widespread among developed countries and the

relatively advanced developing and transition

economies While the nature of liberalization

has varied, all groups of countries are now more

welcoming to TNC activities in infrastructure than

they were two decades ago

However, there are significant variations

by industry Openness is the highest in mobile

telecommunications, and the lowest in water Countries

are generally more open to TNC involvement in

industry segments that are relatively easy to unbundle

and expose to competition Openness also appears

to be greater in countries with more developed

institutional and regulatory capabilities At the same

time, some governments are becoming more careful

about allowing foreign companies to take control of

certain infrastructure, including power generation and

distribution, port operations and telecommunications

New restrictions have been proposed based on

national security or public interest concerns

These concerns notwithstanding, many

countries have moved beyond the removal of barriers

to TNC involvement, and are actively promoting it

in some areas of infrastructure Many investment

promotion agencies (IPAs) are targeting infrastructure

industries In a survey conducted by UNCTAD and

the World Association of Investment Promotion

Agencies, about 70% of the IPA respondents stated

that they were actively seeking such investment,

while only 24% were not Almost three quarters of

the IPAs stated that infrastructure is a more important

priority than it was five years ago

Confirming the broad patterns of openness to

TNC involvement, the infrastructure industries most

often targeted by IPAs are electricity generation,

Internet services and airports By contrast, the lowest

number of IPAs targeted electricity distribution and

transmission Judging from the patterns of investment

in LDCs, there may be a case for low-income countries

to target TNCs from other developing countries,

especially in transport infrastructure

Securing development gains requires

an appropriate governance framework and strong government capabilities.

Without an adequate institutional and regulatory framework, the risk increases that countries will lose out by opening up to TNC participation Moreover, once a country liberalizes, it is often hard to reverse the process This is why the sequencing of reforms

is important Ideally, competitive restructuring, the introduction of regulations and the establishment of

an independent regulatory agency should precede steps towards opening up Such a sequence helps clarify the rules of the game for potential investors and makes governments better prepared for engaging

in a specific project However, in reality, opening

up to foreign investment has often preceded comprehensive reform, with less positive outcomes

as a result Until credible regulatory bodies can be established, developing countries are likely to be better off keeping their utilities in the public sector.Inviting TNCs to deliver infrastructure services tends to place more, rather than less, responsibility on public officials Infrastructure investments typically require the negotiation of contracts between the host country and the foreign investor(s) Contracts provide for a tailor-made agreement that responds

to the particular requirements of each project and the intentions of the contracting parties It is therefore important for countries to develop the expertise to determine the desirable level and forms

of TNC involvement, to negotiate and monitor the implementation of projects

Due to asymmetries of information and experience between a TNC and a host-country government, it is generally difficult for public sector staff to match the resources of the private sector when engaging in contract negotiations Major TNCs tend to make use of international law firms and other experts specializing in project finance transactions, but this is not always possible for developing countries

If countries with limited experience decide to involve TNCs in infrastructure projects, it may be advisable for them to start on a small scale rather than adopting a major programme across industries It may also be useful for them initially to concentrate on less contentious segments of an industry

Many investment disputes are related

to infrastructure.

An issue that has attracted increased attention

in recent years is the rise of disputes related to infrastructure investments At the end of 2007, some

95 disputes (or one third of all known treaty-based investor-State disputes) were related to electricity,

transportation, telecommunications, water and

sanitation The disputes have provoked debate over the

implications of international investment agreements

(IIAs), and especially BITs

One side of this debate is concerned that

improved protection and certainty for foreign investors

has come at the price of too much reduction in the

government’s regulatory flexibility It argues that the

possibility of investor-State arbitration may have a

dampening effect on States’ ability to adopt public

welfare regulations and other regulations in their

citizens’ interests The other side questions whether

BITs have been, or ever will be, able to provide the

protection they were originally intended to offer

investors TNCs that have seen their cases dismissed

or received far lower compensation than what they

had claimed will have found that the protection

offered through the BITs was less comprehensive

than expected

A review of arbitration decisions shows

that less than half of the awards rendered favoured

the claimant, and that damages awarded were

considerably smaller than the total claims made by

investors The fact that more than 90 known disputes

concerned infrastructure shows that concluding IIAs

(and the coexistence of IIAs and State contracts) can

have significant implications for host States At the

same time, the number of disputes should be seen in

the light of the several thousands of IIAs, and a huge

number of investment projects in infrastructure In

addition, if renegotiations of contracts are successful,

they do not reach the stage of dispute and arbitration

The complexity of related issues, together with

the dynamic evolution of the IIA universe and the

international case law, underline the importance

of capacity-building to ensure that

developing-country governments understand the implications of

concluding IIAs They also need to be better equipped

to handle potential investment disputes

Stronger commitments from the

international community is needed …

It is important to consider the potential role of

home countries and the international community in

facilitating more foreign investments into countries

that seek such inflows This is particularly relevant

from the perspective of low-income countries,

which lack domestic capabilities and have generally

failed to attract significant TNC involvement in

infrastructure

Without some form of subsidies, it is difficult to

attract TNC investment into economies, communities

and industry segments that are characterized by weak

purchasing power and poor records of payment In

these cases, development finance institutions can act

as catalytic financiers Especially in such industries

as electricity, water and transport, there is significant potential for synergies between foreign investment and overseas development assistance (ODA) By making more funds available, development partners and the home countries of the investing firms could play a major role in helping to “crowd in” foreign investment into infrastructure projects in developing countries

While development partners have recently scaled up their ODA commitments to infrastructure, current levels of support have not recovered from the earlier period of declining lending by multilateral banks, and they have not reached the levels promised

in various international forums Moreover, while development partners are yet to provide all the funds pledged to scale up infrastructure investments in low-income countries, existing funds are not being fully used – a situation that can be referred to as the

“infrastructure paradox” Recent assessments show that the liquidity of development finance institutions

is very high

Development partners should honour their commitments related to ODA for infrastructure Institutions that provide bilateral or multilateral development finance also need to become more willing to take risk and to allocate a greater share of their activities to the needs of low-income countries

In addition, they should keep all options open While

a strong case can often be made for facilitating greater involvement of the private sector, including TNCs, other approaches should not be ruled out In some projects, notably in water and some electricity segments, there may be strong arguments for keeping the operation of the services in public hands But also

in other industries, weak institutional capabilities may make private-sector involvement too risky In such situations, international efforts focused on supporting existing public sector producers may be more appropriate Development partners should therefore give sufficient attention to financing infrastructure projects for which it may not be possible to mobilize private sector involvement

…including to mitigate risk and build capacity in low-income countries.

Risk-mitigation measures by home countries and international organizations can help in the short term to mobilize private financing of infrastructure projects in developing and transition economies Special attention may have to be given to measures aimed at mitigating three broad types of risk: political risk (including sub-sovereign and contractual and regulatory risks), credit risk and exchange-rate risks

Despite the plethora of risk-mitigation

instruments available, current programmes are

insufficiently tailored to the situation of low-income

countries For example, local currency financing by

development finance institutions typically requires a

well-established currency swap market Where such

a market exists, intervention by development finance

institutions is less likely to be needed At the same

time, risk-mitigation instruments should not be seen

as a panacea Too much risk mitigation may lead to

problems of moral hazard and encourage reckless

risk-taking on the part of investors and lenders While

risk-mitigation tools can facilitate the mobilization

of private debt and equity, they do not make poorly

structured projects more viable This underscores the

importance of capacity-building efforts

Such efforts are especially important in

LDCs Depending on the specific circumstances of

each country, assistance may need to be provided

for developing legal and regulatory frameworks,

assessing different policy and contractual options,

preparing project proposals, and monitoring and

enforcing laws, regulations and contracts Considering

the nature of the projects, governments at all levels

– national, provincial and municipal – are in urgent

need of assistance While positive steps have been

taken to meet these needs, current efforts remain

vastly insufficient Disturbingly, funds available for

capacity-building are not always fully used

Advisory services should be geared to provide

advice not only on how to encourage investment,

but also on how infrastructure can be made to fit

into larger development plans and objectives Most

capacity-building support is currently provided by different financing institutions that often have a direct stake in the different projects It would be worth exploring a more active role for the United Nations in this context As a neutral party, the organization could complement existing players by, for example, helping developing-country governments in evaluating infrastructure contracts and developing negotiating skills Improving the ability of governments in these areas should help secure greater development gains from investment inflows

of private and public sector involvement is chosen, adequate institutions and enforcement mechanisms are essential to ensure efficient and equitable delivery

of infrastructure services Meeting the infrastructure challenge requires a concerted effort by all relevant parties This implies an appropriate combination

of improved governance and capabilities in host countries, greater support from the international community and responsible behaviour on the part of the investors

Supachai Panitchpakdi Secretary-General of the UNCTAD Geneva, July 2008

RECORD FLOWS IN 2007, BUT SET TO DECLINE

GLOBAL TRENDS

Globally, foreign direct investment

(FDI) inflows continued to rise in 2007: at

$1,833 billion, they reached a new record

level, surpassing the previous peak of 2000

The financial and credit crisis, which began

to affect several economies in late 2007, did

not have a significant impact on the volume

of FDI inflows that year, but it has added

new uncertainties and risks to the world

economy This may have a dampening

effect on global FDI in 2008-2009 At the

same time, the global FDI market is in a

state of flux, making it difficult to predict

future flows with any precision

This chapter examines recent

trends in global FDI, cross-border

mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and

international production Section A

describes their changing geographical

and industrial distribution, the relative

positions of countries in terms of their

transnationalization and inward FDI

performance, and recent developments

in FDI policies Section B focuses on the

impact of financial crisis that erupted in

2007 and on the depreciation of the dollar

on FDI flows Section C sheds new light

on the rise of sovereign wealth funds as

direct investors, and section D presents UNCTAD’s latest ranking of the world’s largest transnational corporations (TNCs)

The final section discusses the prospects for FDI, drawing on an UNCTAD survey of

Global FDI reached a new record high

in 2007, reflecting the fourth consecutive year of growth With inflows of $1,833 billion, the previous record set in 2000 was surpassed by some $400 billion (figure I.1)

All the three major groups of economies – developed countries, developing countries and the transition economies of South-East Europe (SEE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) – saw continued growth in FDI

Figure I.1 FDI inflows: global and by groups of economies, 1980–2007

Since the WIR reports the value and growth of

FDI flows in United States dollars, their numbers in

2007 could be considered inflated to some extent, due

to the significant depreciation of the dollar against

other major currencies.1 Growth rates of

dollar-denominated global FDI flows in 2007 diverge from

those denominated in local currencies under the

current exchange-rate realignment: if denominated

in countries’ own currencies, the average growth

rate of global FDI flows would be 23% in 2006–

2007, which is 7% lower than when flows are

denominated in United States dollars (table I.1) In

all regions and subregions except Central America,

FDI inflows grew less in local-currency terms than

in dollar terms The difference was particularly

pronounced in the euro zone in 2006–2007, given

that the dollar hit a record low against the euro A

similar situation prevailed with respect to flows

to South-East Asia, where many Asian currencies

(e.g Malaysian ringgit, Thai baht) appreciated

considerably with respect to the dollar That being

said, estimates of global FDI flows in national

currencies still point to an increase

The continued rise in FDI in 2007 largely reflected relatively high economic growth and strong economic performance in many parts of the world Increased corporate profits of parent firms (figure I.2) provided funds to finance investment and reduced the impact of decreasing loans from the banks affected

by the sub-prime credit crisis In foreign affiliates, higher profits, amounting to over $1,100 billion in

2007 (figure I.3), contributed to higher reinvested earnings, which accounted for about 30% of total FDI flows in 2007 (figure I.4) These profits are increasingly generated in developing countries rather than in developed countries.2

The growth in FDI flows was also driven

by cross-border M&A activity (figure I.5), which expanded in scope across countries and sectors Its strong growth and a record number of mega deals (i.e deals with a transaction value of over $1 billion) (table I.2) pushed the value of total cross-border M&As to

a record $1,637 billion in 2007 (annex tables B.4 and B.6) – 21% higher than even the value in 2000 (figure I.5) The number of such transactions grew by 12% to 10,145 (annex tables B.5 and B.7) While the value

of cross-border M&As does not exactly match the value of FDI flows, due to different data collection

and reporting methodologies (WIR00), UNCTAD’s

revamping of its database and redefining of border” (box I.1) should improve the relevance of these data from an FDI perspective

“cross-In addition, large TNCs in most industries remained in good financial health, reporting rising profits In the financial industry, however, liquidity problems of several transnational banks spurred further consolidation, with participation by a number

of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) Meanwhile, the number of greenfield FDI projects decreased from 12,441 in 2006 to 11,703 in 2007 (annex tables A.I.1-A.I.2).3

Figure I.2 Profitability a and profit levels of TNCs,

1997–2007

Source: UNCTAD, based on data from Thomson One Banker.

Note: The number of TNCs covered in this calculation is 989.

Table I.1.Growth rates of FDI flows denominated

in (United States) dollars and in local currencies,

in dollars

Growth rate

of FDI flows denominated

in local currencIesa

Source: UNCTAD, FDI/TNC database (www.unctad.org/fdistatistics)

and own estimates.

The weight for each country is its share in the starting year in total FDI flows to

the world/region denominated in dollars Weighted growth rate for world/region is

calculated using the following formula:

where the growth rate is calculated on the basis of FDI inflows denominated in

¦

¦

i i i

i i

weights x growth weights* ( )



The growth of

cross-border M&A activity in

recent years, including

2007, was due to sustained

strong economic growth

in most regions of the

world, high corporate

profits and competitive

pressures that motivated

TNCs to strengthen their

competitiveness by acquiring

foreign firms In addition,

financing conditions for

debt-financed M&As were

relatively favourable

Despite a change in lending

behaviour since

mid-2007, caused by a general

reassessment of credit risk,

the growth of cross-border

M&As in the second half of

2007 reached a peak of $879

billion This was essentially

due to the completion of large

deals, many of which had

begun earlier More cautious

lending behaviour of banks

hampered M&A financing in

the first half of 2008 (figure

I.5), especially the financing

of larger acquisitions, which

plummeted to their lowest

semi-annual level since

the first half of 2006 The

number of greenfield projects

remained almost at the same

level in the first quarter

of 2008 as in the previous

quarter

Overall, the financial crisis that began in the second half of 2007 in the United States sub-prime mortgage market did not exert a visible dampening effect on global cross-border M&As that year The largest deal in 2007, and the largest in banking history – the acquisition of ABN-AMRO Holding NV by the consortium

of Royal Bank of Scotland, Fortis and Santander through RFS Holdings BV – took place

in late 2007 This period also saw other major mega deals, including the second largest

cross-border M&A, which was between Alcan (Canada) and Rio Tinto (United Kingdom) (annex table A.I.3)

However, the current crisis has led to a liquidity crisis in money and debt markets in many developed countries This liquidity crisis has begun to depress the M&A business in 2008, especially leveraged buyout transactions (LBOs), which normally involve private equity funds Indeed, the buyout activities by private equity funds, a major driver of cross-border M&As in recent years, are currently slowing down This contrasts with the situation in

Figure I.3 Worldwide income on FDI and reinvested earnings, 1990–2007

Source: UNCTAD, FDI/TNC database (www.unctad.org/fdistatistics).

Figure I.4 Reinvested earnings of TNCs: value and share in total FDI inflows,

2007: cross-border M&As involving such funds almost doubled, to

$461 billion – the highest share observed to date, accounting for over

one quarter of the value of worldwide M&As (table I.3)

With the size of the funds growing, private equity investors

have been buying larger, and also publicly listed, companies Some

factors have emerged that raise doubts about the sustainability

of FDI activity by private equity funds (WIR07) These include a

review of the favourable tax rates offered to private equity firms

by authorities in some countries and the risks associated with the

financial behaviour (e.g high leverage) of such firms, particularly

because of concerns about the availability and cost of credit in

the aftermath of the sub-prime mortgage crisis They also include

an ongoing debate in some countries about possible regulation of

private equity market participants.4 An increased regulatory burden

could cause the private equity industry to stay away or migrate to

more lightly regulated jurisdictions

Weakened private equity activity reduces the overall amount

of FDI in host economies, as such equity can supplement investments

by TNCs In host developing countries, private equity can contribute

to the development of a capital market and an equity culture Such a

culture is lacking in many developing-country markets where

family-owned and State-family-owned businesses are dominant The development

of an equity culture can bring in additional capital and lower the cost

of funds From this point of view, the decrease in FDI by private

equity funds in 2008 (table I.3) reduces the scope of development

of equity markets However, as long as this slowdown is due to the

reduced availability of credit and its increased cost, rather than to

tightened regulations, private equity funds are likely to rebound

once the financial markets recover, and they should continue to be important direct investors

Through its dampening effects on border M&As, the decline of buyout transactions in the current financial market crisis is likely to have depressed FDI flows in the beginning of 2008.5 It is difficult for private equity firms to obtain necessary loan commitments from banks for highly leveraged buyouts While they raised a new record amount of funds totalling $543 billion in 2007 (Private Equity Intelligence, 2007), their fundraising in the latter half

cross-of 2007 declined by 19%, to $254 billion, compared

to the first half of that year However, the decline can be seen as a normalization or return to a more sound and much more sustainable situation (IMF, 2007; ECB, 2007), and a shift towards distressed debt and infrastructure funds from buyout funds Several institutions had warned for some time that the credit standards for corporate credits, particularly for highly leveraged buyout loans, were too loose and could represent a danger for the financial system

Table I.2 Cross-border M&As valued at over $1

Percentage of total

Table I.3 Cross-border M&As by private equity firms and hedge funds, 1987–2008 a

(Number of deals and value)

Share

in total (%) $ billion

Share

in total (%)

2008 a 715 16.4 193.7 31.2

Q1 338 16.8 131.5 37.4 Q2 327 15.9 62.2 23.1

Source: UNCTAD cross-border M&As database.

Note: Private equity firms and hedge funds refer

to acquirers whose industry is classified under “investors not elsewhere classified” This classification is based on that used by the Thomson Finance database on M&As

b Geographical patterns

Virtually all the major geographical regions

registered record inflows as well as outflows in

2007 However, higher growth rates of FDI inflows

to developed countries than to developing countries

reduced the share of developing countries in FDI

inflows from 29% to 27% (annex table B.1) Regarding

outflows, the share of developing countries also

declined from 16% to 13% By contrast, the share of

economies in transition (i.e South-East Europe and

CIS) rose for both inflows and outflows

(i) Developed countries

FDI inflows into developed countries grew

once again in 2007, for the fourth consecutive year, to

reach $1,248 billion – 33% more than in 2006 (figure

I.6; annex table B.1) Flows to the United Kingdom,

France and the Netherlands were particularly

buoyant The United States maintained its position as

the largest FDI recipient country, while the European

Union (EU) as a whole continued to be the largest host

region within the developed-country group, attracting

Box I.1 Revision of the UNCTAD database on cross-border M&As

Starting with this year’s WIR, data on cross-border M&As have been revised to cover all cases for which at

least one of the four entities (immediate acquiring company, immediate target company, ultimate acquiring company and ultimate target company) is located in an economy other than that of the other entities Previously, and including

the data reported in WIR07, cross-border M&As were defined as those deals in which the target company was not

located in the same country as the ultimate acquiring company The data therefore excluded the following kinds of deals: (a) deals where the acquiring domestic company is located in the same country as the acquired foreign company (referred to as case 2 in annex table A.I.4); and (b) deals where the ultimate acquiring foreign company is located in the same country as the acquired domestic company (referred to as case 9) These cases were not considered “cross- border” in the M&A database, even if the economy of the ultimate target company was different from that of the ultimate acquiring company (case 2) (For a brief description of all 11 cases, see annex table A.I.4.) Indeed, there were many transactions categorized under case 2 in Latin America, and these have become an important element of the FDI trend in the region (see section on Latin America and the Caribbean in Chapter II).

International standards for reporting FDI data, as compiled for balance-of-payments purposes, recommend that data be compiled also on the basis of ultimate host and home economy in addition to those on the immediate basis (paragraph 346 of OECD’s Benchmark Definition of FDI) a In reality, compilation based on immediate host and home economy is a common practice used in many countries All transactions between the direct investor (parent firm) and the direct investment enterprise (foreign affiliate) are recorded as either assets or liabilities in balance-of-payments transactions Following this recommendation, on the ultimate host/home country basis, although they are undertaken within the same economy, the deals under cases 2, 3, 7 and 8 in annex table A.I.4 should be reflected in FDI flow data b

In the UNCTAD cross-border M&A database, all transactions are now recorded on the basis of ultimate host (target) and acquiring (home) country Thus, for example, a deal in which an Argentine domestic company acquired a foreign company operating in Argentina, in the new system this deal is recorded showing Argentina as the acquiring country, and the foreign country is the target country.

The data on cross-border M&As presented in this WIR are not strictly comparable to those presented in previous

WIRs, as there are significant differences in the total number and value of the deals included under the old and new

methodologies.

Source: UNCTAD.

that supplemental inward FDI position statistics be compiled on an ultimate investing country basis” (OECD, 2008a, paragraph 346)

is located or from which the sale takes place), while those under cases 3 and 8 would be recorded as (positive) In case 7, as the ultimate host and home country is the same, the value of the deal would be recorded as both divestment and new investment in this economy, and, overall, the net impact on the level of FDI in the host/home country is null.

almost two thirds of total FDI inflows to the group

in 2007 The increase in FDI inflows to developed countries reflected relatively strong economic growth

in those countries in 2007 Continued robust corporate profits and rising equity prices further stimulated cross-border M&As, particularly in the first half of 2007

Outflows from developed countries in 2007 grew even faster than their inflows They increased

by 56% to the unprecedented level of $1,692 billion, exceeding inflows by $445 billion The continued upswing of outward FDI was mainly driven by greater financial resources from high corporate profits (figure I.2) While the United States maintained its position

as the largest source of FDI in 2007, outflows from the EU countries nearly doubled, to $1,142 billion.The various risks prevailing in the world economy are likely to influence FDI flows to and from developed countries in 2008 High and volatile commodity prices and food prices may cause inflationary pressures, and a further tightening of financial market conditions cannot be excluded The growing probability of a recession in the United

States and uncertainties about its global repercussions

may cause investors to adopt a more cautious attitude

(see section E below) These considerations point to a

dimming of FDI prospects in developed countries

(ii) Developing countries

FDI inflows into developing countries rose

by 21% (figure I.6), to reach a new record level of

$500 billion (chapter II) Those to least developed

countries (LDCs) alone reached $13 billion, a 4%

increase over the previous year

In

‡ Africa, FDI inflows in 2007 rose to a historic

high of $53 billion The inflows were supported by

a continuing boom in global commodity markets

Cross-border M&As in the extraction industries

and related services continued to be a significant

source of FDI, in addition to new inbound M&A

deals in the banking industry Nigeria, Egypt, South

Africa and Morocco were the largest recipients

(chapter II) These cases may illustrate a trend

towards greater diversification of inflows in some

countries, away from traditional sectors (e.g oil,

gas and other primary commodities)

FDI inflows to

and Oceania maintained their upward

trend in 2007, reaching a new high

of $249 billion, an increase of 18%

over 2006 They accounted for half

of all FDI to developing economies

At the subregional level, there was

a further shift towards South and

South-East Asia, although China

and Hong Kong (China) remained

the two largest FDI destinations in

the region

In

‡ West Asia, overall, inward FDI

increased by 12% to $71 billion,

sustaining a period of steady

growth in inflows Turkey and the

oil-rich Gulf States continued to

attract the most FDI, but geopolitical

uncertainty in parts of the region

affected overall FDI Saudi Arabia

became the largest host economy in

the region, overtaking Turkey

FDI inflows into

and the Caribbean increased by

36%, to a record level of $126 billion

Significant increases were recorded

in the region’s major economies,

especially Brazil and Chile where

inflows doubled Contrasting with

the experience of the 1990s, the

strong FDI growth was driven

mainly by greenfield investments

(new investments and expansion)

Figure I.6 FDI flows, by region, 2005–2007

+&&- +&&) +&&(

rather than cross-border M&As This pattern was the result of strong regional economic growth and high corporate profits due to rising commodity prices Natural-resource-based manufacturing accounted for a large proportion of inward FDI to Brazil, for example

FDI outflows from the developing world remained high in 2007 at $253 billion

More

‡ African TNCs expanded their activities

within and outside the region, driving FDI outflows from the region to $7 billion on average in the past two years

South, East and South-East Asia and Oceania

FDI outflows of $150 billion in 2007, has become

a significant source of FDI, particularly for other developing countries both within and outside the region

With the doubling of FDI outflows from

to $44 billion, this region remains an important source of FDI, led by the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) SWFs based in the subregion have also accounted for a major proportion of FDI

FDI outflows from

Caribbean fell by 17% in 2007, to around $52

billion This was due to the decline in outflows from

Brazil to $7 billion following the exceptionally

high level of $28 billion reached in 2006.6

(iii) South-East Europe and CIS

FDI inflows into the transition economies of

South-East Europe and CIS increased significantly by

50% to reach a new record of $86 billion in 2007 – the

seventh year of uninterrupted growth of FDI flows to

the region Inflows to the region’s largest recipient, the

Russian Federation, rose by 62% (annex table B.1)

Interest in the Russian Federation as an FDI destination

does not seem to have been greatly affected by the

tightening of Russian regulations relating to strategic

industries, including natural resources, or by disputes

over environmental protection and extraction costs

Thus, overall, FDI inflows into the region remained

buoyant

FDI outflows from South-East Europe and

CIS also rose to record levels in 2007, reaching $51

billion – more than twice as high as the previous year

FDI from the Russian Federation reached a new high

in 2007 ($46 billion)

c Sectoral patterns

In recent years there has been a significant

increase in FDI flows to the primary sector, mainly

the extractive industries, and a consequent increase

in the share of that sector in global FDI flows and

stock (WIR07: 22 and annex tables A.I.5-A.I.8) The

primary sector’s share in world FDI is now back to

a level comparable to that of the late 1980s The

services sector still accounts for the largest share

of global FDI stocks and flows, while the share of

manufacturing has continued to decline

In 2006, the primary sector’s share of the

estimated total world inward FDI stock stood at

8%, and the sector accounted for 13% of world FDI

inflows in the period 2004–2006 There has been

some recent levelling off of FDI flows to the primary

sector, as indicated by FDI flow data as well as data

on cross-border M&As and greenfield investment

projects The value of cross-border M&As in the

sector declined from $156 billion in 2005 to $109

billion in 2006, and recovered only partially (to $110

billion) in 2007 (annex table B.6) The increase in

FDI in the primary sector in 2007 was more evident

in greenfield investments Their number rose from

463 in 2005 to 490 in 2006 and 605 in 2007 (annex

table A.I.2)

Manufacturing accounted for nearly one third

of the estimated world inward FDI stock in 2006, but

for only a quarter of world FDI inflows in the period

2004–2006 (annex tables A.I.5 and A.I.7) Its share in world inward FDI stock has fallen noticeably since

1990 – in both developed and developing economies – declining by more than 10 percentage points In

2007, there was a significant upsurge of cross-border M&As in manufacturing, with cross-border M&A deals in that sector rising by over 86%, compared with increases of 1% and 36% in the primary and services sectors respectively (annex table B.6)

The services sector accounted for 62% of estimated world inward FDI stock in 2006, up from 49% in 1990 (annex table A.I.5) Nearly all of the major service groups have benefited from the shift of FDI towards services that began more than a quarter century ago In the case of some services, such as trade and financial services, the increase began well before 1990, when they accounted for 12% and 20%, respectively, of total inward FDI stock globally While trade, financial services and business activities continue to account for the lion’s share of FDI in the sector, other services, including infrastructure, have begun to attract increasing shares of FDI since the 1990s For example, the value of cross-border M&As worldwide in electricity, gas and water rose from $63 billion (about 6% of total sales) in 2006 to $130 billion (nearly 8% of the total) in 2007 (annex table B.6) The slow but steady increase in the share of infrastructure industries in FDI, including in developing countries, raises questions as to how FDI can contribute to development in general and to progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),

in particular, through more and better infrastructure services for the poor These issues are examined in Part Two of this report

to grow For example, the value-added activity (gross product) of foreign affiliates worldwide accounted for 11% of global GDP in 2007 Sales amounted to $31 trillion, about one fifth of which represented exports, and the number of employees reached 82 million.However, the above discussion at the global level conceals country differences in international production as measured by various indicators This

is why, as of 2007, the World Investment Report (WIR) started to analyse one specific indicator of

international production: employment in foreign

affiliates This variable was examined to show the

direct impact of FDI on host economies This year’s

WIR considers another variable frequently used to

examine the level of international production: sales

of foreign affiliates

Country-level data show significant differences

between countries in the relationship between sales

of foreign affiliates and inward FDI stock as well

as affiliates’ output (table I.5) They also show a

noticeable difference between the three sectors: the

ratio of sales to inward stock is generally the lowest in

the primary sector, and the highest in manufacturing,

while that for the services sector falls in between

Sales are generally 5-6 times higher than value added,

but there are differences by sector, with a given

amount of sales corresponding to more value added

in manufacturing than in services In Latvia, Slovakia

and Slovenia, for example, manufacturing generates

more value added than in other countries, judging

from data on value added per dollar of FDI stock

(table I.5) Country and/or sectoral differences reflect

the nature of the sales data, which include value added

in production in the host country as well as the value

of purchased inputs (imported as well as domestic suppliers) Thus the implications of an increase or decrease in sales for host and home countries may differ somewhat, depending on which of the factors mentioned are relevant An analysis with regard to exports should be also examined in this context.The UNCTAD Transnationalization Index

of host economies, incorporating both FDI and international production indicators (value added and employment), measures the extent to which a host country’s economy is transnationalized (figure I.7) The ranking has not changed much over the years, with Belgium, Hong Kong (China) and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia being the most transnationalized of the developed, developing and transition economies, respectively, in 2005 (the most recent year for which data are available)

3 Indices of FDI performance

and potential

Since WIR02, UNCTAD has provided

indicators to measure the amount of FDI countries

Table I.4 Selected indicators of FDI and international production, 1982–2007

Item

1986-1990 1991- 1995 1996-

FDI inflows 58 207 1 411 1 833 23.6 22.1 39.9 27.9 33.6 47.2 29.9 FDI outflows 27 239 1 323 1 997 25.9 16.5 36.1 63.5 -4.3 50.2 50.9 FDI inward stock 789 1 941 12 470 15 211 15.1 8.6 16.1 17.3 6.2 22.5 22.0 FDI outward stock 579 1 785 12 756 15 602 18.1 10.6 17.2 16.4 3.9 20.4 22.3 Income on inward FDI 44 74 950 1 128 10.2 35.3 13.1 31.3 31.1 24.3 18.7 Income on outward FDI 46 120 1 038 1 220 18.7 20.2 10.2 42.4 27.4 17.1 17.5 Cross-border M&As a 200 1 118 1 637 26.6 b 19.5 51.5 37.6 64.2 20.3 46.4 Sales of foreign affiliates 2 741 6 126 25 844 c 31 197 c 19.3 8.8 8.4 15.0 1.8 c 22.2 c 20.7 c

Gross product of foreign affiliates 676 1 501 5 049 d 6 029 d 17.0 6.7 7.3 15.9 5.9 d 21.2 d 19.4 d

Total assets of foreign affiliates 2 206 6 036 55 818 e 68 716 e 17.7 13.7 19.3 -1.0 20.6 e 18.6 e 23.1 e

Export of foreign affiliates 688 1 523 4 950 f 5 714 f 21.7 8.4 3.9 21.2 12.8 f 15.2 f 15.4 f

Employment of foreign affiliates (thousands) 21 524 25 103 70 003 g 81 615 g 5.3 5.5 11.5 3.7 4.9 g 21.6 g 16.6 g

GDP (in current prices) 12 083 22 163 48 925 54 568 h 9.4 5.9 1.3 12.6 8.3 8.3 11.5 Gross fixed capital formation 2 798 5 102 10 922 12 356 10.0 5.4 1.1 15.2 12.5 10.9 13.1 Royalties and licence fee receipts 9 29 142 164 21.1 14.6 8.1 23.7 10.6 10.5 15.4 Exports of goods and non-factor services 2 395 4 417 14 848 17 138 11.6 7.9 3.8 21.2 12.8 15.2 15.4

Source: UNCTAD, based on its FDI/TNC database (www.unctad.org/fdi statistics), UNCTAD, GlobStat, and IMF, International Financial Statistics,

June 2008.

inward FDI stock.

product=591.8813+0.3574* inward FDI stock.

inward FDI stock.

inward stock For 1998-2007, the share of exports of foreign affiliates in world exports in 1988 (33%) was applied to obtain the value.

inward FDI stock.

Note: Not included in this table are the values of worldwide sales by foreign affiliates associated with their parent firms through non-equity relationships and the sales of the parent firms themselves Worldwide sales, gross product, total assets, exports and employment of foreign affiliates are estimated by extrapolating the worldwide data of foreign affiliates of TNCs from Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Portugal, Sweden and the United States for sales; those from the Czech Republic, Portugal, Sweden and the United States for gross product; those from Austria, Germany, Japan and the United States for assets; those from Austria, the Czech Republic, Japan, Portugal, Sweden and the United States for exports; and those from Austria, Germany, Japan, Switzerland and

receive or invest abroad relative to the size of their

economies (Inward FDI Performance Index and

Outward FDI Performance Index respectively),

and their potential to attract FDI flows (Inward

FDI Potential Index).7 In 2007, among the top 20

economies listed by the Performance Indices for both

inward and outward FDI, relatively small countries

continued to rank high (table I.6; annex table A.I.10)

The trend has not changed significantly over the past

few years Notable changes include the move upwards

of Cyprus, Egypt and the Republic of Moldova among

the top 20 rankings for inward FDI performance,

and Austria, Denmark and the United Kingdom for

outward FDI performance

The ranking of countries according

to the UNCTAD Performance and

Potential Indices yields the following

matrix: front-runners (i.e countries with

high FDI potential and performance);

above potential (i.e countries with low

FDI potential but strong performance);

below potential (i.e countries with high

FDI potential but low performance); and

under-performers (i.e countries with both

low FDI potential and performance) In

2006 (not 2007 because of data limitations

for deriving the Potential Index), Oman,

Saudi Arabia, Sweden and Tunisia joined

the group of front-runners, and Nigeria,

Peru and Togo joined the above-potential

group (figure I.8)

4 New developments in

FDI policies

a Developments at the

national level

Despite growing concerns and

political debate over rising protectionism,8

the overall policy trend continues to be

towards greater openness towards FDI

UNCTAD’s annual survey of changes in

national laws and regulations that may

influence the entry and operations of TNCs

suggests that policymakers are continuing

to seek ways of making the investment

climate in their countries more attractive

In 2007, only 98 policy changes that affect

FDI were identified by UNCTAD – the

lowest number since 1992 The nature of

the changes was similar to that observed

over the past few years: 24 of the 98

changes were less favourable, most of

which were related to extractive industries

or reflected national security concerns;

the remaining 74 changes were in the

direction of making the host-country environment more favourable to FDI (table I.7)

Many countries adopted new measures to attract FDI, such as offering various incentives or the establishment of special economic zones (SEZs) There was an ongoing trend to lower corporate income taxes in both developed and developing countries, and the number of countries with flat tax systems9

continued to grow (table I.8) For example, while Iceland’s corporate income tax rate has been cut steadily, from 50% in the late 1980s to the current level

of 18%, in 2007 the country introduced a flat rate of

Table I.5 Sales and value added of foreign affiliates and inward FDI stock in host developing and former transition economies,

most recent available year

Host economy Year Sector

Sales ($ million)

Value added ($ million)

Inward FDI stock ($ million)

Ratio of sales to inward FDI stock (in $)

Ratio of value added

to inward FDI stock (in $) Bulgaria 2004 Total 17 861 3 000 10 108 1.8 0.3

Primary 156 Manufacturing 8 593 1 387 2 611 3.3 0.5 Services 9 269 1 613 7 263 1.3 0.2 China 2004 Total 698 718 245 467 2.8

Primary 3 259 10 637 0.3 Manufacturing 676 445 163 645 4.1 Services 19 014 71 185 0.3 Czech 2005 Total 112 535 22 347 60 662 1.9 0.4 Republic Primary 360 106 363 1.0 0.3

Manufacturing 56 768 11 404 23 112 2.5 0.5 Services 55 407 10 836 37 188 1.5 0.3 Estonia 2004 Total 8 362 1 789 10 064 0.8 0.2

Primary 42 12 102 0.4 0.1 Manufacturing 3 130 796 1 686 1.9 0.5 Services 5 190 980 8 250 0.6 0.1 Hong Kong, 2004 Total 232 772 45 760 453 060 0.5 0.1 China Manufacturing 9 362 2 051 8 836 1.1 0.2

Services 223 399 43 707 435 890 0.5 0.1 Hungary 2005 Total 104 502 16 949 61 886 1.7 0.3

Primary 45 271 0.2 Manufacturing 56 583 11 525 22 847 2.5 0.5 Services 47 919 5 379 31 116 1.5 0.2 Latvia 2004 Total 8 380 1 648 4 529 1.9 0.4

Primary 97 Manufacturing 1 402 420 534 2.6 0.8 Services 6 978 1 228 3 382 2.1 0.4 Lithuania 2005 Total 14 008 2 444 8 211 1.7 0.3

Primary 113 Manufacturing 6 957 1 289 3 250 2.1 0.4 Services 7 051 1 155 4 847 1.5 0.2 Romania 2005 Total 39 864 7 354 25 818 1.5 0.3

Primary 1 890 Manufacturing 17 999 3 427 9 638 1.9 0.4 Services 21 865 3 926 14 106 1.6 0.3 Singapore 2002 Total 61 313 38 282 1.6

Manufacturing 61 313 38 282 1.6 Slovakia 2005 Total 42 308 6 814 13 053 3.2 0.5

Primary 138 Manufacturing 26 719 4 605 5 235 5.1 0.9 Services 15 589 2 209 7 680 2.0 0.3 Slovenia 2005 Total 14 954 1 735 7 055 2.1 0.2

Primary 11 0 6 1.8 0.0 Manufacturing 7 330 1 735 3 085 2.4 0.6 Services 7 613 0 3 969 1.9 0.0

Source: UNCTAD, based on data from its FDI/TNC database (www.unctad.org/ fdistatsitics) and data provided by Eurostat.

10% on income from interest, dividends, capital gains

and rents Tax reductions were also implemented in

Colombia (from 38.5% to 33%), Bulgaria (from

15% to 10%) and the former Yugoslav Republic of

Macedonia (flat corporate income tax rate of 10%)

Reduced corporate taxes are often justified by the

need to stay competitive as locations for inward FDI

Other countries introduced new promotional

measures or improved their existing ones In March

2007, for example, the United States Department

of Commerce launched the Invest in America

initiative, the first Federal-level plan to encourage

foreign investment since the 1980s (chapter

II.C).10 Besides promoting the United States as an investment destination, it will serve as a contact point for international investors, and support State and municipal level efforts to attract inward FDI Other countries, including Honduras, Peru and the Russian Federation, introduced special taxes and/or tariff regimes in SEZs and other zones The overall trend towards providing more incentives to foreign investors was accompanied by continued liberalization of various economic activities, ranging from reinsurance services in Brazil to fixed-line telephony in Latvia

As in 2006, the extractive industries represented the main exception to the liberalization

Figure I.7 Transnationality index a for host economies, b 2005

2005; value added of foreign affiliates as a percentage of GDP in 2005; and employment of foreign affiliates as a percentage of total employment in 2005

Belarus (2002), Bulgaria, China (2003), Czech Republic, Estonia (2004), France, Hong Kong (China), Hungary, Italy (2004), Ireland (2001), Japan, Latvia (2004), Lithuania, Republic of Moldova, Netherlands (2004), Singapore (manufacturing only,2004), Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia (2004), Spain, Sweden, and the United States For Albania, the value added of foreign owned firms was estimated on the basis of the per capita inward FDI stocks and the corresponding ratio refers to 1999 For the other economies, data were estimated by applying the ratio of value added of United States affiliates to United States outward FDI stock to total inward FDI stock of the country Data on employment were available only for Australia (2001), Austria (2003), Bulgaria, China (2004), Czech Republic, Estonia (2004), France (2003), Germany, Hungary, Hong Kong (China) (2004), Italy (2004), Ireland (2001), Japan, Latvia (2004), Lithuania, Luxembourg (2003), Netherlands (2004), Poland (2000), Portugal, Republic of Moldova (2004), Romania, Singapore (manufacturing only, 2004), Slovakia, Slovenia (2004), Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States For the remaining countries, data were estimated by applying the ratio of employment of Finnish, German, Japanese, Swedish, Swiss and United States affiliates to Finnish, German, Japanese, Swedish, Swiss and United States outward FDI stock to total inward FDI stock of the economy Data for Ireland and the United States refer to majority- owned foreign affiliates only Value added and employment ratios were taken from Eurostat for the following countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

:914 7918 7<15 7519 7713 7714

trend (see WIR07) On the

back of further increases in

commodity prices, several

natural-resource-exporting

countries introduced new

sectoral or ownership

restrictions.11 In Bolivia, the

State-owned oil company,

YPFB, reclaimed full

control of two main oil

refineries from Petrobras

(Brazil) The Government

also announced plans to

increase taxes substantially

on mining companies

Ecuador similarly raised the

State’s share of the profits gained in the hydrocarbons

sector Meanwhile, the Government of the Bolivarian

Republic of Venezuela took control of a number of

oil projects, including the Cerro Project, resulting

in the filing of new claims by the foreign investor,

ExxonMobil (United States).12 While this trend was the

most prominent in Latin America (WIR07 and chapter

II of this report), it was also evident elsewhere In

Kazakhstan, for example, the Government announced

a review of all contracts relating to the exploitation

of natural resources, ostensibly to ensure that licence terms were not being violated As a result, foreign investors may face more onerous contract terms However, to what extent these will deter prospective investors remains uncertain, given Kazakhstan’s large oil resources and the high price of oil

The nature and significance of other changes not favourable to FDI have varied The most common reasons for countries’ concerns over increased foreign ownership were related to national security, especially with regard to investments by SWFs and State-owned firms For example, in the United States and the Russian Federation, stricter regulations were adopted concerning foreign investment projects with potential implications for national security Reflecting the changing economic and political conditions in the world economy, the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) reviewed this trend in a report covering 11 countries (box I.2) and concluded that “each country has changed or considered changing its foreign investment laws, policies, or processes in the last 4 years; many of the changes demonstrate an

increased emphasis on national security concerns” (United States GAO, 2008: 3)

The growing role of SWFs as overseas investors has triggered much policy discussion (section C) Germany has been actively working with the EU to establish rules for those funds at the European level The main concern among some developed countries appears to be that the funds may buy stakes in strategic industries to gain access to and knowledge of latest

Table I.6 Top 20 rankings by Inward and Outward

Performance Indices, 2006 and 2007 a

Inward FDI Performance Index

Source: UNCTAD, annex table A.I.10.

derived using three-year moving averages of data on FDI flows and GDP for the

three years immediately preceding the year in question including that year.

'!% ( ( ( , -

Figure I.8 Matrix of inward FDI performance and potential, 2006

Source: UNCTAD, based on annex table A.I.10.

Table I.7 National regulatory changes, 1992–2007

Item 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Number of countries that

introduced change 43 56 49 63 66 76 60 65 70 71 72 82 103 92 91 58Number of regulatory changes 77 100 110 112 114 150 145 139 150 207 246 242 270 203 177 98 More favourable 77 99 108 106 98 134 136 130 147 193 234 218 234 162 142 74 Less favourable 0 1 2 6 16 16 9 9 3 14 12 24 36 41 35 24

with the second half of 2007 In UNCTAD’s World Investment Prospects Survey 2008? ??2010, 39% of

the responding TNCs...

of the estimated world inward FDI stock in 2006, but

for only a quarter of world FDI inflows in the period

2004–2006 (annex tables A.I.5 and A.I.7) Its share in world inward FDI... of IPA attention to infrastructure industries, 2008 158

V.2 Promotion instruments, by infrastructure industry or service, 2008 159

V.3 Number of known