UNCTAD16 ministerial roundtable: Strategic priorities and emerging directions for investment and entrepreneurship policy

Thank you for being here.

Let me first thank our panelists – we have been able to achieve parity here in very hardcore issues like in AI, in digital, in investment. This is good.

Excellencies,

Distinguished ministers,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Investment is about trust – trust in the future, trust in partnership, trust in shared prosperity. Today, that trust is under strain.

Before opening our discussion, let me make two points: first, on the challenges we face; second, on what this conference can do to address them.

I start with the challenge. Our latest World Investment Report shows a stark reality: global foreign direct investment fell 11% last year – the second consecutive decline.

International project finance, the lifeblood of infrastructure development, plummeted by 26% in 2024. Investment in SDGs themselves contracted sharply.

These aren't abstract numbers. They mean hospitals without power, schools without clean water and communities cut off from opportunity. When 80% of FDI to the Global South in the digital economy flows to just ten countries, all the rest are marginalized from progress – billions of people watch progress pass them by.

The digital divide compounds these gaps. And we all know this because we have been saying this for the past two days. We have been saying that AI investment and digital dynamic are part of the reason why we see resilience in growth and trade – because trade is being dynamized by services and in services part, by digital and investment too.

I was at the fall meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, and in the G20 discussions, and everybody was saying that—well, the global economy and trade have been more resilient than we had expected. And this is good news. It is not bad news – this is good news.

But we also said, yes, it has been resilient, but not necessarily more stable. And in a way, we cannot confuse resilience with stability. And some of the reasons why we have been more resilient, is not necessarily the factors that will bring more stability for the future. And that is why this discussion is so important – how can we make investment also go to the countries that need it most, and not only where it normally flows.

So, while FDI in digital industries rose 14 percent, most developing countries lack the infrastructure and policy frameworks to capture these opportunities. Artificial intelligence promises to revolutionize economies, but without technological diffusion, connectivity and skills, it will widen gaps rather than bridge them.

So, my second point is – how we seize the opportunities.

Not everything is declining. Sustainable finance reached $8.2 trillion in 2024, growing 17 percent in a single year. South-South investment in the digital economy is rising, but very concentrated in a few countries. Developing countries are advancing reforms and adopting sustainable finance measures. These bright spots show us where to focus our efforts.

The negotiating text before us recognizes that creating an enabling investment environment requires addressing multiple dimensions – from good governance and transparency to reducing capital cost disparities between developed and developing countries. But crucially, it emphasizes strengthening also domestic ecosystems.

This means investing in MSMEs – that constitute 90 percent of businesses worldwide, provide 70 percent of jobs, and generate half of global GDP. When we strengthen their capacity to innovate and connect to global value chains, we multiply the power of every dollar of inbound investment we do receive.

Excellencies,

This roundtable must tackle two critical questions: How can countries craft policies that build on positive trends while addressing persistent barriers. And how can we forge multi-stakeholder coalitions that channel sustainable finance where it's needed most.

UNCTAD stands ready to support you through investment facilitation, policy frameworks, and entrepreneurship development.  I look forward to your insights, and I wish you productive discussions.

I thank you.