The FDI Qualities Guide for Development Co-operation (the Guide) has been designed to support the implementation of the Recommendation on Foreign Direct Investment Qualities for Sustainable Development (the Recommendation), adopted by the OECD Council at Ministerial Level on 10 June 2022, and to complement the OECD FDI Qualities Policy Toolkit (the Policy Toolkit) which was developed by the Investment Committee (IC) and launched in June 2022. While the Recommendation and the Policy Toolkit are primarily addressed to national governments and their implementing agencies, setting out advice on how governments can enhance the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on sustainable development, particularly in the areas of productivity and innovation, job quality and skills, gender equality, and decarbonisation, the Guide provides specific guidance to donors and other development co-operation actors on strengthening the role of development co-operation in mobilising FDI and enhancing its positive impact in developing countries. The Guide reviews a broad range of financial and technical solutions that can enhance the impact of FDI on sustainable development. It outlines a structured approach to help donors more explicitly and systematically consider the impact of FDI in their strategies – as a key element of holistic sustainable development financing strategies in line with the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) – and can support the design, implementation and monitoring of FDI-related assistance. The Guide can also provide a useful reference for developing countries willing to engage with donors to enhance the impact of FDI on sustainable development.
This Guide is a joint effort of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and the IC. It was approved by both Committees in July 2022, and builds on a longstanding collaboration between them. The importance of a coordinated approach on FDI Qualities between investment and development co-operation actors was first stressed by the Chairs from both Committees at the 2019 Roundtable on Investment and Sustainable Development. As part of the development of the Policy Toolkit, the two Committees since organised a joint session, at the Roundtable on Investment and Sustainable Development in September 2020, on how investment policy makers and development partners could coordinate actions to boost investment and the qualities of investment during the COVID-19 recovery and beyond. A joint informal session of the two Committees discussed the preliminary version of the Guide.
The Guide was prepared under the overall guidance of (i) at the OECD Development Co-operation Directorate, Olivier Cattaneo, Head of Policy Analysis and Strategy Unit of the Financing for Sustainable Development Division, and supervised by Haje Schütte, Senior Counsellor and Head of the Financing for Sustainable Development Division, and (ii) at the OECD Directorate for Financial Affairs, Martin Wermelinger, Senior Economist and Head of Investment Qualities and Incentives Unit of the Investment Division, and supervised by Stephen Thomsen, Deputy Head of the Investment Division, and Ana Novik, Head of the Investment Division.
The Guide was prepared by Coralie Martin, Economist and Policy Analyst at the Development Co-operation Directorate, Takashi Yukizawa, former Policy Analyst at the OECD Investment Division, and Jieun Kim, Policy Analyst at the Development Co-operation Directorate. The Guide benefitted from substantive inputs and comments by Fares Al Hussami, Stratos Kamenis, Iris Mantovani, and Letizia Montinari, all from the Investment Division. The Guide has benefitted from comments by the DAC and IC, as well as consultations with stakeholders from international organisations, the private sector, civil society and academia. It includes a number of examples and good practices provided by DAC members. Eric Bensel, Counsellor at the OECD Development Co-operation Directorate, provided guidance and supported institutional coordination. Liv Gudmundson, Publication and Editorial Lead at the Directorate for Financial Affairs, prepared the Guide for publication and Robert Akam, Communications Officer, helped with communications. Henri-Bernard Solignac-Lecomte, Senior Communications Manager for Development provided continuous guidance and support throughout the publication process.