Lacklustre financial flows to developing countries were not due to a lack of investment facilitation efforts.
In 2023, 86% of the investment policy measures taken by developing countries were more favourable to investors. In contrast, 57% of measures in developed countries were less favourable, with restrictions, such as FDI screening mechanisms increasingly used to address national security concerns.
Globally, the number of investment policy measures in 2023 matched the five-year average, with about three quarters favorable to investors. Investment facilitation reached a record 30% of all measures. Incentives targeted the services sector and renewable energy in particular.
In 2023, 29 new international investment agreements (IIAs) were concluded, less than half being traditional bilateral treaties. Reforming older IIAs remains slow, with about half of global FDI still governed by non-reformed treaties, increasing the risk of investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) cases. This is higher for developing countries (two-thirds) and LDCs (three-quarters).
Only 16% of global FDI stock is covered by new-generation IIAs.
The total ISDS case count reached 1,332, with 60 new arbitrations in 2023. About 70% of new cases were against developing countries, including three LDCs, with claims mostly in the construction, manufacturing and extractive sectors.
