Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows amounted to 1,697 billion USD in 2008, while global FDI stocks reached a level of more than 16,205 billion These figures underline the fact that FDI has gained an importance that is comparable to trade in providing foreign markets with goods and In addition, FDI constitutes the largest source of external finance for developing Nevertheless, the global financial crisis had a significant impact on FDI at the end of 2008, reducing flows by approximately compared to the all-time high of 1,978 billion USD in 2007. The downward trend continued in 2009
