Poorer nations bear brunt of global development fund dry up: UN

The COVID-19 crisis caused global FDI to plummet by a third, threatening sustainable development goals.

The COVID-19 crisis has caused a severe fall in global foreign direct investment (FDI), with investment flows dropping by a third – from $1.5 trillion in 2019 to $1 trillion – in 2020, a new report from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has warned. The World Investment Report 2021 (PDF) found that the coronavirus pandemic rolled back progress made in ensuring that least developed countries and those with weaker economies have access to foreign investment funds. Such funds are critical to adopting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of targets the UN and its member states committed to achieving by 2030, particularly poorer countries at risk of falling behind as their wealthy counterparts take off technologically.