By Ronald Joshua
GENEVA (IDN) – Foreign direct investment is critical for developing and emerging market countries. Their companies need the multinationals' funding and expertise to expand their international sales. The countries need private investment in infrastructure, energy, and water to increase jobs and wages. In fact the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) 2017 report warned that climate change would hit them the hardest.
The UNCTAD says in its report on October 15 that global foreign direct investment (FDI) tumbled by 41 percent in January-June 2018, to an estimated USD470 billion from USD800 billion in the first half of 2017.