The Global Investment Trend Monitor report
Relevance: Mains: G.S paper II: International Index and report
Why in news?
- The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released the Global Investment Trend Monitor report.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI):
- The global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) remained flat in 2019 at $1.39 trillion, a one % decline from a revised $1.41 trillion in 2018 against the backdrop of weaker macroeconomic performance and policy uncertainty for investors, including trade tensions.
- The FDI flows to developed countries remained at a historically low level, decreasing by a further six % to an estimated $643 billion.
- Developing economies continue to absorb more than half of global FDI flows. South Asia recorded a 10 % increase in FDI to $60 billion.
- India was among the top 10 recipients of FDI in 2019, attracting $49 billion in inflows, a 16 % increase from the previous year, driving the FDI growth in South Asia. The majority went into services industries, including information technology.
- The United States remained the largest recipient of FDI, followed by China with flows of $140 billion and Singapore with $110 billion. China saw zero-growth in FDI inflows.
Cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions
- The report showed that cross-border M&As declined 40% in 2019 to $490 billion – the lowest level since 2014.
- The fall in global cross-border M&As sales was deepest in the services sector which declined 56% to $207 billion, followed by a 19% fall in manufacturing to $249 billion and a 14% decrease in primary sector to $34 billion.
- The decline in M&A values was driven also by a lower number of mega deals. In 2019, there were 30 mega deals above $5 billion compared to 39 in 2018.