Global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows in 2014 declined 16 per cent to 1.2 trillion dollars, according to this year’s newly released World Investment Report from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
After the turn of the century, growth in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) picked up again after a quarter century of near stagnation for most, mainly due to increased world demand for minerals and other natural resources.
Stemming widespread corruption in the leasing of customary land to investors is the aim of bold land reform, introduced this year in the Southwest Pacific Island state of Vanuatu, which puts the rights of traditional landowners above the discretionary powers of politicians.
A new law opening Cuba up to foreign investment and a shift in the country’s relations with the European Union are aimed at seeking outside support to overcome the chronic crisis plaguing the country since the early 1990s.
The number of "least developed countries" (LDCs), which rose from the original 24 back in 1971 to the current 49, is beginning to shrink - haltingly.
Nean Narin, a humble man and father of three children, says his family is going hungry. Narin lives in the village of Boeung Kak, situated on the edge of Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh. For years, he and other villagers relied on the Boeung Kak Lake for fish and plants, which they would eat and sell.
The nations of Latin America and the Caribbean strengthened their position with respect to Europe at the CELAC-EU summit held this weekend in the Chilean capital, reaching agreements that protect their natural resources from foreign investors and securing a joint condemnation of the United States’ trade embargo against Cuba.
"We are completely 'clueless' when it comes to China." This statement by Enrique Dussel, director of the Centre for China-Mexico Studies of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, perfectly describes the currently stale state of relations between the two countries.