MODERN TRENDS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT

The article is devoted to the study of modern trends and characteristics of international investment. We have studied the distribution of global investment flows by a group of countries during 1999–2018. It has been found that, while developed countries are major donors and recipients of foreign capital, the role of developing countries in attracting and exporting foreign direct investment (FDI) has increased significantly over the past decade, indicating a strengthening of the position of key countries of this group in the world economy. In general, until 1999–2018, the developed countries had exported $23.05 trillion of the total volume of FDI exported. Developing countries had taken out $7.5 trillion of the total amount, and countries with transition economies had taken out $402.0 billion or 1.3%, respectively. It is estimated that the trends of attracting foreign direct investment in 2018 were differently directed at groups of countries. For example, developed countries have recorded the least rate since 2004; FDI inflow to transition economies has also declined for the second consecutive year. On the other hand, for the second consecutive year, there was a positive trend in the increase in FDI inflows of the developing countries after the decline in their inflows in 2016. However, there were major differences in FDI inflows within the countries of the group. Overall, cumulative FDI in developed countries increased 3.7 times during the period 1999–2018, almost seven times in developing countries, and more than twenty times in countries with transition economy. It was noted that regional instability and political uncertainty negatively affect global investment processes. Likewise, many governments are implementing regulatory changes in national investment policies that aim to liberalize investment laws as well as strengthen and expand control over foreign investment. Finally, the outbreak and spread of the coronavirus threat (Covid-19) since early 2020 already have a shock effect on the global economy and investment processes, in particular. An effective response to the economic consequences of the Covid-19 will require not only proactive and purposeful macroeconomic measures by states, but also corrective policies and institutional reforms needed to build a robust, sustainable, equitable, and favorable trajectory for the global economy.