Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Economic agglomeration and industrial clusters have always been part of industrialization and economic development. Since the 1960s industrial hubs have proliferated in Asia driven by policies to foster economic catch-up and structural transformation. Industrial hubs are relatively new to Africa but continue to attract attention from policymakers and researchers. However empirical studies on African industrial hubs have been inadequate and to date have had only a limited influence on policymaking. Contrary to accepted wisdom underperforming African industrial hubs offer an opportunity for policy learning from successes and failures. This paper aims to fill the existing knowledge gap from a policymaking perspective. It has three objectives: first to demonstrate the diversity the uneven and mixed outcomes and the evolving nature of African industrial hubs; second to provide insights and policymaking lessons through a comparative analysis of four diverse cases namely those of Mauritius the China-Africa economic and trade cooperation development zones the Tanger Med Complex in Morocco and the recent experiment with industrial hubs in Ethiopia; third to show that developing synergies to advance industrialization requires a strategic approach integrating the state’s productive role and executive excellence within the broader industrial policy framework.

This paper investigates the role of global economic uncertainty in Dunning’s investment development path (IDP) framework. By applying the dynamic panel threshold model to data from 76 developed and developing countries we find that countries’ net outward investment (NOI) follows a non-linear pattern even after incorporating global economic uncertainty into the analysis. At the same time global economic uncertainty has non-linear effects on NOI subject to the level of economic development. More importantly our results show that NOI is path dependent with correlation coefficients changing across the different stages of IDP which implies that uncertainty affects countries’ progression to the next stage of IDP differently. From a policy perspective our findings call for special attention to policymakers in less developed nations. Even though global economic uncertainty may not always have a negative effect or may even improve a country’s NOI for a while it may deter the international expansion of local firms. In the presence of high global economic uncertainty local firms are less likely to become outward foreign direct investors which implies stagnation in internationalization.

UNCTAD first published a list of the top 100 digital multinationals in the World Investment Report 2017. This research note builds on the analysis and conceptual framework on digitalization and foreign direct investment set out in that report. It provides an updated list allowing for an analysis of trends over the five-year period including the COVID-19 pandemic and adds new features to the data set that will be exploited in forthcoming UNCTAD work. The note describes the methodology to create the new and extended data set and points at possible avenues for further work. The purpose of the research note is to provide academic scholars with the basic elements needed to pursue further research in this field.

This paper analyses the major features of the 2020 Ethiopian investment law and their policy implications. The law has liberalized many areas of the Ethiopian economy to pave the way for increasing the private sector’s share and diminishing the Government’s role. It adopted the negative list approach to liberalization to simplify the process of determining investment fields that are open for foreign investors. It laid out procedures for handling investors’ grievances and for resolving investor–State disputes principally through domestic institutions. It also obliges investors to discharge their corporate social responsibilities. The paper argues that these features of the law demand transparent efficient and competent government institutions to properly regulate and protect investments and to attain sustainable development as the ultimate goal of the law. For this purpose it also argues that two factors are essential: ensuring effective institutional coordination and supplementing the mandatory corporate social responsibility requirements with voluntary engagement. In addition it contends that the Government needs to strengthen linkages between foreign and domestic investment promote decent jobs and sustainability enhance human resources and infrastructure and build a stable political system to reap the significant development benefits of investment as envisaged in the investment law. The paper also suggests that other countries in Africa and beyond can benefit from applying these lessons in designing or reforming their investment policies to maximize the sustainable development gains from foreign investment.

During the COVID-19 pandemic digital frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data analytics amongst others have been mobilized to fight against the pandemic. But it is also important that digital technologies serve the needs of the Sustainable Development Goals. This report reviews the status of digital frontier technologies in the Asia-Pacific region. It stresses that the policy framework for the next generation of technology and innovation should focus on creating an enabling environment for digital frontier technologies to positively impact economy society and environment; and to reduce inequalities.

During the COVID-19 pandemic digital frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analytics amongst others were mobilized to fight against the pandemic. To build back better from the pandemic and meet the ambitions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development it is imperative to ensure that these technologies are also directed towards inclusive and sustainable development objectives.

This report shows that digital frontier technologies hold great promise for contributing to sustainable development. However there are challenges particularly regarding the future of work and jobs.

To effectively develop and implement digital frontier technologies for sustainable development challenges vary depending on the context in a country or industry. This section covers three common areas where impacts of digital frontier technologies may not necessarily produce sustainable development results namely 1) the impacts of digital frontier technologies on jobs 2) a new digital frontier technology divide and 3) issues of ethics and trust.

Each issue of the Monthly Bulletin of Statistics (MBS) presents current economic and social statistics for more than 200 countries and territories of the world. Written in French and English it contains over 50 tables of monthly and/or annual and quarterly data on a variety of subjects illustrating important economic trends and developments including population prices employment and earnings energy manufacturing transport construction international merchandise trade and finance. The annual subscription rate for the Monthly Bulletin of Statistics in print includes access to the MBS Online.