Ghana
moved up 6 places - from 113 to 107 - in the success of attracting foreign investors,
according to a United Nations study. The countries with the biggest success
attracting foreign investors are Belgium and Luxembourg, Hong Kong and Angola.
UNCTAD
produced a new ranking that compared a country's share of global foreign
investment with its share of global gross domestic product for the period
1998-2000.
Although
the United States was the largest recipient of foreign investment - luring $124
billion from abroad last year - it ranked only 74th in relation to the size of
its economy, said the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development in its 2002
World Investment Report.
The
survey found that although developed countries are recipients of more than
two-thirds of foreign investment, many do not live up to their potential.
Australia, Italy and Japan were among the rich nations that found themselves in
the bottom half of the 140-nation ranking.
The
report found that foreign investment fell by more than half in 2001 to $735
billion, mainly because of a drop in the number of international mergers and
acquisitions. "This makes it all the more important for countries to
measure how they are doing today in terms of attracting foreign direct
investment and what their potential is for the future," said Karl P.
Sauvant, the report's author.
Economists
regard foreign direct investment as an important factor in boosting a country's
growth. The survey gave a score of 1 to a country whose share of global foreign
investment was equivalent to its share of global GDP (web sites). Belgium and
Luxembourg - which are ranked together because they shared a currency before
the arrival the euro - topped the list with a score of 13.8, well ahead of Hong
Kong at 5.9.
Oil-rich
Angola came third at 5.1, despite its decades-long civil war that only ended
this year. The U.N. agency said there was a surge in investment in the oil
industry at the end of the 1990s "in response to more stable political
conditions."
Tax
havens were left off the list because the high flow of money into such
countries does not reflect the real level of foreign investment. At the bottom
of the list, Suriname, Yemen, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates and Libya all had
negative scores.
UNCTAD
said the countries that have done best in boosting their exports over the past
years have been those with high levels of investment by transnational
corporations. Foreign affiliates now account for 50 percent of all exports from
booming China - up from 17 percent a decade ago.
Foreign
companies traditionally were active in the production and export of
manufactured goods, but now they are also become involved in trade in services
and in agriculture, the report said.
"In
Kenya, for example, rapid growth in the exports of flowers has made the country
the leading flower supplier of the European Union, with foreign affiliates
producing most of these exports," it said. Ranking of countries in terms
of foreign investment relative to size of economy, according to the U.N.
Conference on Trade and Development
Rankings
are for the period 1998-2000. (Rankings for 1988-1990 are shown in
parentheses.) Belgium and Luxembourg are ranked together because they had a
monetary union until the introduction of the euro.
1.
Belgium and Luxembourg (13)
2.
Hong Kong (4)
3.
Angola (129)
4.
Ireland (71)
5.
Malta (28)
6.
Sweden (57)
7.
Netherlands (19)
8.
Azerbaijan (3)
9.
Nicaragua (123)
10.
Bolivia (54)
11.
Trinidad and Tobago (27)
12.
Denmark (62)
13.
Czech Republic (20)
14.
Panama (139)
15.
Armenia (112)
16.
Estonia (2)
17.
Chile (15)
18.
Singapore (1)
19.
Guyana (72)
20.
Vietnam (53)
21.
Kazakstan (17)
22.
Finland (81)
23.
Mozambique (109)
24.
Bulgaria (67)
25.
Britain (16)
26.
Jamaica (33)
27.
Croatia (65)
28.
Zambia (9)
29.
Moldova (38)
30.
Canada (46)
31.
Dominican Republic (32)
32.
Latvia (7)
33.
Lithuania (56)
34.
Papua New Guinea (5)
35.
Slovakia (40)
36.
Georgia (88)
37.
Argentina (48)
38.
Poland (37)
39.
Switzerland (43)
40.
Bahrain (31)
41.
Thailand (25)
42.
Brazil (95)
43.
Germany (106)
44.
Malaysia (8)
45.
Ecuador (41)
46.
Togo (52)
47.
China (61)
48.
Bahamas (82)
49.
Hungary (6)
50.
El Salvador (111)
51.
Venezuela (84)
52.
Spain (26)
53.
Honduras (49)
54.
New Zealand (10)
55.
Kyrgyzstan (14)
56.
Costa Rica (24)
57.
Romania (64)
58.
Sudan (132)
59.
Uganda (130)
60.
Norway (59)
61.
Malawi (51)
62.
Gambia (34)
63.
Namibia (94)
64.
Ivory Coast (101)
65.
Portugal (18)
66.
Macedonia (91)
67.
Tunisia (68)
68.
Peru (114)
69.
France (60)
70.
Israel (100)
71.
Benin (23)
72.
Nigeria (11)
73.
Zimbabwe (136)
74.
United States (50)
75.
Austria (98)
76.
Mali (105)
77.
Colombia (96)
78.
Mexico (42)
79.
Republic of Congo (107)
80.
Tajikistan (70)
81.
Albania (12)
82.
Myanmar (36)
83.
Senegal (78)
84.
Tanzania (119)
85.
Paraguay (75)
86.
Jordan (97)
87.
South Korea (93)
88.
Australia (22)
89.
Philippines (39)
90.
Belarus (122)
91.
Egypt (21)
92.
Qatar (133)
93.
Mongolia (66)
94.
Guatemala (30)
95.
Ukraine (99)
96.
Gabon (44)
97.
Ethiopia (118)
98.
Iceland (104)
99.
Madagascar (89)
100.
Uzbekistan (110)
101.
Morocco (76)
102.
Cyprus (35)
103.
Sri Lanka (85)
104.
Russia (108)
105.
Syria (92)
106.
Guinea (74)
107.
GHANA (113)
108.
Uruguay (87)
109.
Botswana (29)
110.
Slovenia (80)
111.
Algeria (126)
112.
Taiwan (58)
113.
South Africa (131)
114.
Pakistan (77)
115.
Italy (79)
116.
Burkina Faso (116)
117.
Kenya (90)
118.
Congo (134)
119.
India (121)
120.
Cameroon (127)
121.
Niger (69)
122.
Bangladesh (127)
123.
Turkey (83)
124.
Haiti (102)
125.
Greece (45)
126.
Lebanon (117)
127.
Saudi Arabia (103)
128.
Brunei (125)
129.
Rwanda (73)
130.
Oman (47)
131.
Japan (128)
132.
Kuwait (124)
133.
Nepal (120)
134.
Sierra Leone (55)
135.
Iran (135)
136.
Libya (86)
137.
United Arab Emirates (115)
138.
Indonesia (63)
139.
Yemen (138)
140.
Suriname
Source:
Associated Press
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