"WORLD INVESTMENT REPORT 2000" TO BE ISSUED 3 OCTOBER, WITH MEDIA BRIEFING AT HEADQUARTERS

Press Release

‘WORLD INVESTMENT REPORT 2000’ TO BE ISSUED 3 OCTOBER, WITH MEDIA BRIEFING AT HEADQUARTERS

The World Investment Report 2000, the world’s most authoritative compendium of international investment trends and statistics, published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), will be launched on Tuesday, 3 October. Georg Kell, economic analyst in the Executive Office of Secretary-General Kofi Annan, will brief the media on that day at 11 a.m. in Room S-226 at Headquarters.

Among the highlights of this year’s report:

--Cross-border foreign direct investment worldwide is set to top $1 trillion in 2000, for the first time ever;

--The 1999 total was an impressive $865 billion, indicating that the effects of the 1997-98 crisis are wearing off;

--Mergers & acquisitions lead the trend toward cross-border activity, rising 42 per cent annually over the last 20 years and attaining a 1999 completed value of $2.3 trillion.

Also in the book: a list of the top 100 transnational corporations in terms of foreign assets; regional and country breakdowns; the story on all 1999 cross-border merger and acquisition deals worth over $1 billion; what the merger and acquisition mania means for business competitiveness; what the mergers and acquisitions mean for the prospects of emerging economies and poorer countries; how investment fits into the world economic development picture.

All information in the World Investment Report 2000, the press conference and this advisory are under embargo until 6 p.m.(EST) Tuesday, 3 October.

For more information or to obtain a copy of the World Investment Report 2000 and press kit, please contact Yasmin Padamsee, United Nations Department of Public Information, Tel. (212) 963-9495, Fax (212) 963-1186, email: padamsee@un.org. Please confirm your attendance at the press conference ahead of time.

Journalists without United Nations credentials should fax a letter of assignment to (212) 963-4642, with a follow-up call to the United Nations Media Accreditation Unit at (212) 963-7164. For UNTV coverage, call (212) 963-7650.

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