UNCTAD Training Manual on Statistics for Foreign Direct Investment and Operations of Transnational Corporations

Many developing countries, including the least developed countries, have attracted only small amounts of foreign direct investment (FDI) despite their efforts at economic liberalisation in an increasingly globalizing world. UNCTAD has prepared this three volume manual with the aim of helping developing countries to enhance the capacity of their government agencies to compile, analyse and disseminate data on FDI and the operations of transnational corporations (TNCs), based on internationally recommended standards. The volumes are: FDI Flow and Stock Data, Statistics on the Operations of Transnational Corporations, and Collecting and Reporting FDI/TNC Statistics: Institutional Issues. Data on the activities of foreign affiliates can be an important complement to the FDI data contained mainly in balance of payments (BOP) statistics. This Volume III provides an overview of the methodologies being used in the countries where FDI and TNC data are collected and reported. It stresses the importance of coordination and harmonization of reporting and dissemination of FDI statistics.