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How have foreign direct investment (FDI) flows reacted to the current financial and economic crisis? How do traditional and new foreign investors - transnational corporations (TNCs) - affect agriculture, the basis of livelihood in many developing countries? These are two major issues analysed in detail in World Investment Report 2009 (WIR09), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development´s 19th annual report on FDI and TNCs.

The Report covers, in particular, questions such as:

• What are the differences between individual regions in terms of their responses in FDI flows to the crisis? Why did the crisis affect FDI to developing countries later than developed countries?
• What are the prospects for FDI in 2009 as well as for the medium term?
• How has the crisis affected national and international policies related to FDI? Has the path of more liberalizations been continued or reversed?
• In the midst of a major industrial restructuring, which companies are the winners and losers in the universe of the world´s largest TNCs?
• Why is agriculture such a special industry for developing countries - and what are its longer term prospects? What role can TNCs play in improving the productivity of agriculture in developing economies?
• How robust is the renewed interest by TNCs in agriculture? Who are the new investors and how do they differ from traditional TNCs? What are the pros and cons of developing country farmers being drawn into global agribusiness value chains?
• What can developing countries expect from the renewal of FDI in agriculture? Given the past record, will this time the impact of TNCs in agriculture be different?
• How does TNC participation in agricuture affect socially sensitive issues, including those related to food security and the food crisis; as well as the non-food uses of agricultural produce for biofuels?
• What policy challenges does TNC involvement in agriculture raise? How are they being addressed within the framework national economic strategies, with the aim of maximizing benefits and minimizing costs from TNC involvement?
• Are policy makers sufficiently prepared to meet the challenges? How can the international community support them?

According to WIR09, after decades of slow growth, TNCs´ interest and participation in agriculture - including FDI - is again on the rise. Despite this rise, in most countries today only a small share of FDI goes to agriculture. There are nevertheless some developing countries, including least developed countries (LDCs), where the share of agriculture in inward FDI is relatively important. Renewed interest of foreign investors in agricultural investment is significant enough to raise questions about whether FDI and other forms of TNC participation in agriculture can contribute to the development of this long neglected industry. WIR09 suggests an integrated policy approach that takes into account all concerns arising from TNC involvement.

As in previous years, WIR09 presents the latest data on FDI and traces global and regional trends in FDI and in international production by TNCs in light of the current financial and economic crisis. WIR 09´s Statistical Annex provides data on FDI flows and stocks for more than 200 economies, as well as information on the world´s largest TNCs.