Pakistan has continued to attract Chinese investments related to the Belt and Road Initiative, with inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) rising from $ 2.5 billion in 2016 to $ 2.8 billion in 2017, says World Investment Report (WIR) 2018.

The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) WIR 2018 "Investments and new industrial policy" states that foreign direct investment to Pakistan has risen from $ 2,479 billion in 2016 to $ 2,806 billion in 2017.

The inflow of foreign direct investment to South Asia shrank by 4 percent to $ 52 billion, reflecting a drop in inflow into India. FDI to India fell from $ 44 billion in 2016 to $ 40 billion in 2017, i.e. by more than 10 percent. FDI to Bangladesh also fell by about 7 percent from $ 2,333 billion in 2016 to $ 2,152 billion in 2017. Inflows from FDI to Sri Lanka increased from $ 897 million in 2016 to $ 1,375 billion in 2017, and for Nepal the FDI rose $ 106 million in 2016 to $ 198 million in 2017.

FDI outflow from Pakistan jumped from $ 52 million in 2016 to $ 67 million in 2017. Outflow from India, the main source of foreign direct investment in South Asia, more than doubled to $ 11 billion in 2017, against $ 5.07 billion, while outflow from Bangladesh remained $ 170 million in 2017 compared to $ 41 million in 2016.

The influx in the Islamic Republic of Iran increased by nearly 50 percent to $ 5 billion. After the lifting of the sanctions in 2015, the rich reserves of the country began to attract substantial foreign participations in the exploration and production of oil and gas

The United States remained the largest recipient of foreign direct investment, with an inflow of $ 275 billion, followed by China, with a record inflow of $ 136 billion, while India is in 10th with an inflow of $ 40 billion.

Worldwide FDI flows fell 23 percent to $ 1.43 trillion. This is in stark contrast to the accelerated growth of GDP and trade. The decrease was partly caused by a drop in the value of cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M & As) by 22 percent. But even the large one-off deals and corporate restructurings that have inflated the FDI numbers in 2016 will be strongly printed in 2016. The value of announced greenfield investments – an indicator of future trends – also fell by 14 percent, which is maintained in the report.