Developing countries including territories in Latin America and the Caribbean are likely to find that the speed of their recovery after COVID-19 is significantly compromised despite having attracted a record proportion of direct investment overseas during 2020, the full calendar year of the pandemic. , according to an Investment Trends Monitor published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in late January this year.
UNCTAD’s disclosures are attributed to what the report says was a “significant” fall in investment in the infrastructure and productive sectors in developing countries, a circumstance that, it says, has weakened their COVID-19 recovery prospects.
The report blames the circumstance on what it says was a steep decline in the financing of international projects targeting named regions including Latin America and the Caribbean. This, despite the fact that general foreign direct investment (FDI) flowing into developing countries showed relative resilience during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, falling just 12 per cent compared with the shocking fall of 69 percent recorded by richer economies.