Foreign Direct Invesment (FDI) flows in Kuwait in 2013 registered USD 2.329 billion in 2013, compared with around USD 3.931 billion the year before, an economic report said Tuesday.
The 2014 World Investment Report, released by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), said FDI stocks in Kuwait in 2013 surged to USD 21.242 billion compared with around USD 18.913 billion a year earlier.
It noted that outward FDI flows skyrocketed by 159 percent in 2013 to reach USD 8.377 billion from USD 3.231 billion the year before. This brought the outward FDI stocks to USD 40.247 billion in 2013 against USD 31.87 billion in 2013.
The report, meanwhile, said inward FDI flows in West Asian region declined by nine percent last year to USD 44 billion, maintaining a downward trend since 2009 caused by regional conflicts that kept foreign investors away from the area.
However, outward FDI flows from West Asia increased by 65 percent last year because of investment boost from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries: Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
UNCTAD's report said global FDI flows rose by nine percent to USD 1.45 trillion in 2013 with projections to reach USD 1.6 trillion this year and USD 1.8 trillion in 2016. FDI stocks reached USD 25.5 trillion in 2013.
It meanwhile said investments by the sovereign funds were still limited reaching USD 6.7 billion in 2013 despite the gigantic assets of these funds, estimated at USD 6.4 trillion