UNCTAD's investment policy reviews: key policy lessons

Recognizing the potential of foreign direct investment (FDI) for development, the development community has sought measures to support developing countries to attract FDI and to maximize its benefits. In this context, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has developed its Investment Policy Review (IPR) programme to provide developing countries with recommendations for improving their business environment in order to better derive development gains from FDI. As a body of work, the IPR series has discerned common obstacles to FDI attraction among many developing countries. These include a lack of clear rules; ineffective policy implementation or follow-through; and FDI policies which do not reflect country-specific conditions, such as the level of development, the availability of infrastructure, skills and resource endowments. Drawing on a recently published report by UNCTAD, Investment Policy Reviews: Shaping Investment Policies around the World, this paper summarizes the lessons learnt from the programme and highlights issues and challenges for policy and corporate strategy on cross-border investment