Author: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Publisher: Organization for Economic

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13: 9789264103603

Foreign direct investment (FDI) has cooled dramatically. Many OECD countries are presently recording inflows of less than 25% of what they received just two years ago. However, developing countries and transition economies have been less affected by the decline. They now receive more than a third of worldwide FDI flows, underscoring the potential of direct investment to act as a catalyst for growth and sustainable development. China is a case in point. In 2002, the Chinese economy became the world's foremost recipient of FDI, surpassing even the largest OECD countries. China's accession to the World Trade Organisation has played a role in this, but so have ongoing efforts at liberalising the national investment environment and improving standards for public and corporate governance. China's ongoing challenge is to proceed with its efforts at moving from a system based on financial and other special incentives to rules-based policies for attracting investment. OECD's views on FDI incentives are expressed in a recent Committee report released in the present edition. A particularly important element of public governance is transparency. Past evidence shows that countries that fail to treat foreign enterprises in a sufficiently transparent manner are unlikely to attract economically relevant levels of FDI. The present issue of "International Investment Perspectives "contains a Special Focus dealing with the links between transparency and investment. This volume contains: - Trends and recent developments - China's investment policy reform: From incentives to modern rules - Policies and incentives for attracting foreign direct investment - Special focus: Transparency and investment - Survey of Implementation of Methodological Standards for Direct Investment