Dear Members of the World Investment Network,

It is my pleasure to share with you the Fifth UNCTAD-OECD Report on G20 Investment Measures, together with the accompanying Joint Summary by WTO-OECD-UNCTAD on G20 Trade and Investment Measures. The Report was prepared in response to the G20 Leaders’ latest request made at their Summit meeting in Seoul on 11-12 November 2010, when they reaffirmed the extension of their standstill commitment to resist protectionism until the end of 2013 and asked the WTO, OECD, and UNCTAD to continue monitoring the situation and to report publicly on a semi-annual basis.  

This joint UNCTAD-OECD report covers measures taken in the period from mid-October 2010 until end-April 2011.  It finds that during the reporting period the majority of new investment measures taken by G20 governments eliminated restrictions to international investment and improved clarity for foreign investors. In that context, the fifth report confirms the findings of earlier joint reports on G20 investment measures, issued in 2010 (March, June and November) and 2009 (September).

This compares with the global picture (as reported in UNCTAD’s Investment Policy Monitor, issued earlier this month), where the last six months have seen an increase in measures that restrict or regulate foreign investment to 35 percent of all policy measures. This is the highest percentage since 1992, when UNCTAD first published data on this issue and points to a widening dichotomy between liberalization and regulation in investment policymaking worldwide.  

The policy developments covered by the present report took place in a situation where, unlike global GDP and trade flows, global investment flows have not recovered to their pre-crisis level. Moreover a number of risks to a full FDI recovery persist, including protectionist pressures.  (For most recent data see UNCTAD’s Global Investment Trends Monitor, issued in April 2011).  Allow me also to draw your attention to our forthcoming World Investment Report 2011 to be launched on 26 July 2011, which will offer final data on global FDI policies and flows for 2010.
 
With kind regards,

James X. Zhan
Director
Investment & Enterprise Division
United Nations Conference on Trade & Development
Palais des Nations, Geneva
Tel: +41 22 9175797
www.unctad.org/diae


WIR