UNCTAD director Dr. James Zhan Tunis – Nabil Zaghdoud The director of the investment and enterprise at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development ( UNCTAD), Dr James Zhan, has said the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) is expected to reach about $1.6 trillion  at the global level by the end of 2012.
Zhan stated in the UNCTAD conference\'s report  \"Towards a New Generation of Investment Policies\" that 20122 FDI stood at $1.5 trillion in 2011 and was expected to reach $1.6 trillion by the end of 2012 and about $1.8 trillion in 2013.
 He also said that the global production of multinational companies have risen to 11 percent during 2011, noting that these companies currently employed more than 69 million people in the world.
FDI during 2011 benefitted from developing economies and newly industrialised countries or those in transition, and particularly the countries of Central Asia and Western Europe where economy grew respectively by 23 percent, 11 percent and 22 percent, said the report.
International investment directed towards Africa meanwhile has declined for the third consecutive year to $42.7 billion, mainly due to a decline in FDI oriented in North Africa because of a sudden stop in investments in former investment hubs Egypt and Libya because of the social and political instability.
 The report, which was released for the first time in Tunisia. FDI in Tunisia also declined since 2008 because of the global economic crisis and matters were exacerbated during 2011, especially after the revolution. The first third of 2012 has witnessed a recovery and Tunisia benefited with 274 million dinars from investments recording a development of 21 percent over the same period in 2011.