While a great many motivated ‘intellectuals’ are busy reinforcing a sense of gloom and doom regarding the Indian economy, a recently released United Nations report suggests otherwise. India was one of the top 10 recipients to attract Foreign Direct Investment(FDI) in 2019, revealed a UN report on Monday.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) commissioned Global Investment Trend Monitor report stated that India was one among the top 10 beneficiaries of Foreign Direct Investment(FDI) and saw about 16 per cent growth as compared to previous year, attracting $49 billion inflows in 2019. The report also stated that the global foreign direct investment stayed lacklustre in 2019 at $1.39 trillion, a 1 per cent decline from the revised $1.41 trillion in 2018.
The report cited the looming threats of trade war, slackening macroeconomic performance and policy indecision as primary reasons for the tepid FDI investments last year.
The report also mentioned that the cluster of developing countries attracted more than 50 per cent of the foreign direct investment with South Asia registering a rate of 10 per cent increase in FDI to $60 billion, chiefly driven by India’s 16 per cent increase in FDI inflows amounting to $49 billion. According to the report, a large chunk of this investment was attracted by services industries, including information technology.
The investment in developed countries hit an unprecedented low, decreasing by 6 per cent as compared to 2018 to $643 billion. The United States topped the list of countries receiving FDI. However, it registered a negative growth as the FDI investments in US fell to $251 billion from $254 billion. China, on other hand, saw zero-growth of FDI inflows with 2019 witnessing $140 billion inflows as compared to $139 billion in 2018.
Against the backdrop of impending Brexit, the FDI in UK was down by 6 per cent. The European Union too did not remain immune to the sluggish year as its investments dropped by 15 per cent to $305 billion.
