Expert Meeting on Capacity Building
in the Area of FDI
UNCTAD
December 12–14, 2005
Feasibility Study on Conduct of a Coordinated Direct
Investment Survey
Neil Patterson
Statistics Department
International Monetary Fund
Disclaimer: This note should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF. The views
expressed in this note are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or
IMF policy.
Feasibility Study on Conduct of a Coordinated Direct Investment Survey
1. Globalization—the most important force at play in the world economy today—has
raised demands among policymakers and other users of statistics for more complete and
comparable foreign direct investment (FDI) statistics, both in the context of balance of
payments and international investment position (IIP) statistics as well as in other statistical
frameworks.
2. In connection with an informal seminar on FDI statistics held by the IMF’s Executive
Board in November 2003, the Board endorsed a proposal made by the IMF’s Statistics
Department to undertake a feasibility study on the conduct of an internationally-coordinated
survey of FDI positions. 1 Such a survey, which could be modeled on the basis of the
IMF-sponsored Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey, 2 could help meet demands for
comprehensive and comparable FDI statistics. The IMF Committee on Balance of Payments
Statistics (the Committee), which advises the IMF on methodological and compilation issues
related to balance of payments and IIP statistics, also gave in-principle support for the study.
3. A small task force comprising the ECB, Eurostat, IMF, OECD, UNCTAD, and the
World Bank was convened to undertake the study. National compilers from six countries also
participated in the meetings of the task force. The task force concluded that it would be
feasible and beneficial to compilers and users of FDI statistics for the IMF and its
interagency partners to undertake a CDIS in respec