Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoUNCTAD / WORLD INVESTMENT REPORT
STORY: UNCTAD / WORLD INVESTMENT REPORT
TRT: 02:58
SOURCE: UNCTAD / UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 19 JUNE 2025, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, drone footage of the Alley of the Flags, Palais de Nations, Geneva; speaker on screens
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Rebeca Grynspan, UN Trade and Development, Secretary-General: “Productive global foreign direct investment continues to be weak, with a further negative outlook for 2025 and with consequences most sharply felt in the developing world.”
3. Med shot, journalists attending the press room.
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Rebeca Grynspan, UN Trade and Development, Secretary-General: “In 2024, global foreign direct investment fell 11%.”
5. Med shot, journalist in the press room.
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Rebeca Grynspan, UN Trade and Development, Secretary-General: “Behind those numbers are very real consequences. Jobs not created. Infrastructure not built. Sustainable development delayed. What we see here is not just a downturn. It is a pattern.”
7. Med shot, photographer taking pictures.
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Rebeca Grynspan, UN Trade and Development, Secretary-General: “This is happening because of growing geopolitical tensions, rising trade barriers, increasing screening measures on foreign investment, especially in the developed countries.”
9. Wide shot, speakers at the podium of the press room.
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Rebeca Grynspan, UN Trade and Development, Secretary-General: “We need to embed sustainability in the investment decision-making aligned with standards, combat greenwashing and support countries for policy reform.”
11. Med shot, photographer taking pictures.
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Rebeca Grynspan, UN Trade and Development, Secretary-General: “We need to reform investment policies and direct capital to the real economy – energy, industry, tech, infrastructure – so we can steer capital towards these very important sectors. Finally, we need to modernize the international investment governance, update international rules to protect public interest, ensure fair treatment for investors, and preserve national policy space.”
13. Med shot, journalist in the press room.
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Rebeca Grynspan, UN Trade and Development, Secretary-General: “The time to act is now. Investment is not just about money. It is about trust. It is about fairness. It is about a future that includes everyone.”
Global foreign direct investment fell by 11 percent, marking the second consecutive year of decline and confirming a deepening slowdown in productive capital flows, according to the World Investment Report 2025, released today by UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Although global foreign direct investment (FDI) rose by 4 percent in 2024 to $1.5 trillion the increase is the result of, among other factors, volatile financial conduit flows through several European economies, which often serve as transfer points for investments.
This year’s report comes ahead of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4), where global leaders will address the widening gap between capital flows and development needs. The findings underscore the urgency of reshaping investment and finance systems to support inclusive and sustainable growth.
Investment dropped sharply across developed economies, particularly in Europe. In developing countries, inflows appeared broadly stable – but this concealed a deeper crisis: in too many economies, capital is stagnating or bypassing entirely the sectors that matter most – infrastructure, energy, technology, and the industries that drive job creation.
Download
There is no media available to download.
