Priyanshi Pareek reports on the UNCTAD Report 2023..
The UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) report is an important document that provides insights into global economic trends and challenges. It focuses on trends in foreign direct investment (FDI) worldwide, at the regional and country levels and emerging measures to improve its contribution to development.
To start with, it is useful to understand the key highlights and findings of the report. This may include statistics on global trade volumes, economic growth rates, and trends in foreign direct investment. The report also sheds light on regional disparities, including trade imbalances and economic inequality.
Investment Report:
UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2023 reveals a widening annual investment deficit that developing countries face as they work to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
The gap is now about $4 trillion per year – up from $2.5 trillion in 2015 when the SDGs were adopted. The report shows that global foreign direct investment (FDI) fell 12% in 2022 and analyses how investment policy and capital market trends impact investment in the SDGs, particularly in clean energy.
The report calls for urgent support to developing countries to enable them to attract significantly more investment for their transition to clean energy.
Trade and Development Report:
UNCTAD’s Trade and Development Report 2023 warns that the global economy is stalling, with growth slowing in most regions compared with last year and only a few countries bucking the trend.
It says the global economy is at a crossroads, where divergent growth paths, widening inequalities, growing market concentration and mounting debt burdens cast shadows on the future.
The report calls for a change in policy direction – including by leading central banks – and accompanying institutional reforms promised during the COVID-19 crisis to avert a lost decade.
Technology and Investment Report:
The report analyses the market size of 17 green and frontier technologies, such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and electric vehicles, and their potential to create jobs.
Now is the time for developing countries to capture more of the value being created in this green tech revolution.
UNCTAD calls on their governments and business communities to invest in more complex and greener sectors, boost technical skills and scale up investments in the technology infrastructure needed to grow green industries.
Commodities and Development Report:
UNCTAD’s Commodities and Development Report 2023 outlines how commodity-dependent developing countries could pursue inclusive economic diversification in the context of the global energy transition.
Decades of overreliance on exporting a few raw materials, such as oil, copper, cacao and wheat, has hindered these nations’ growth and undermined their people’s well-being.
The shift to renewables could leave these countries with vast fossil fuel reserves stranded – including abandoned oil fields, plants and equipment – and this will affect the communities and people that depend on industries like gas and oil.
The report outlines actions to avoid past commodity traps. It offers a blueprint for tailored green industrial policies to ensure a fair low-carbon transition that benefits everyone, striking the right balance between the right to development and the need to protect the environment.
The UNCTAD report for 2023 presents a comprehensive analysis of the global investment landscape, highlighting key trends and predicting shifts in FDI patterns. It emphasizes the significance of emerging technologies and sustainable development in shaping the future of international investments.