Is there a way to sustainable investment? (PDF)

Inhaltsangabe:Introduction:
The issue of foreign direct investment (FDI) as one of the key features of globalisation, continues to attract widespread attention, particularly since its rapid increase in the last decade. While some see FDI as a panacea for overcoming poverty, others point precisely to the opposite and recall the negative image often connected to multinational corporations (MNCs) embodied in child labour, environmental catastrophes, and exploitation of cheap work force. Opinions on the benefits of FDI for development differ considerably, but so does the observed reality. In some countries FDI has, in fact, contributed to economic progress and fallen poverty rates. Other countries by contrast, have not been able to reap the repeatedly praised fruits of investment flows such as job creation and technological spillovers, or did not even attract significant amounts of FDI.
But in the highly inter-dependent and inter-connected world that we live in now, extreme views cannot and should not set the tone for future debates. Neither the retreat into isolated and protectionist patterns nor the advocacy of a downright neo-liberal credo seem to be viable options. For one thing, FDI has outstripped official development aid in numbers and no single country has lifted itself out of poverty in the last 50 years without integrating into the world market. For another, simple liberalisation measures have not always increased FDI flows into host developing countries and where they did, FDI flows have not automatically brought with them the desired benefits for development. The term development should be understood in a sustainable sense and thus, goes far beyond the rise of the gross national product per capita. It means, according to the frequently quoted Brundtland report, ¿development that meets the needs of the present without comprising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs¿.
Without neglecting the importance of raising income levels, it puts special emphasis on enhancing the skills and competencies of people who should harness and shape their ecological, economic and social environment in sustainable ways. Crucial with this understanding of development is on one hand, its long-term perspective, and on the other, the interplay between the economic, social and environmental dimension, both making any action oriented towards development a highly complex matter. As a consequence, the presumption that all kinds of investment flows [...]