investment flows, despite growth in absolute terms in the second half of the 1980s. The most rapid rise in global foreign direct investment movements had been into developed countries. One factor behind that was the increasingly strong competitive position of non-United States transnational corporations, which had expanded their direct investment in North America. Regional economic integration among developed countries in Western Europe and North America had also accelerated the flows of foreign direct investment within and into those regions, presenting both positive and negative implications for developing countries. Finally, recent events, which had led to the emergence of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union as new host countries for foreign direct investment, promised to increase the activities of transnational corporations in that region, depending on the latter's ability to implement market-oriented policy reform. The continued attractiveness of developed country locations helped to explain the declining share of foreign direct investment in developing countries despite the implementation of favourable foreign direct investment policies by the latter in recent years. The Executive Director observed that the situation was especially disturbing for the least developed countries, where inflows of foreign direct investment had been reduced to a mere trickle. In that context, he noted the importance of actions by home countries to encourage their transnational corporations to seize incentives offered by those countries under present policy changes. He suggested the desirability of performing country case studies, as part of an effort to enact broader, more effective policies aimed at increasing the flows of foreign direct investment to developing countries. Those studies could serve not only to pinpoint the impact of foreign direct investment on the economic development of a country and the policies that could help stimulate the transfer of investment, technology and skills to developing countries but they could also help identify areas to which the United 
**Analysis**
The text appears to be discussing the global flow of foreign direct investment, its trends, and its implications on economic development, particularly in developing countries. It highlights the factors influencing investment decisions, such as the competitive position of non-US transnational corporations, regional economic integration, and policy reforms. The text also touches on the importance of home countries encouraging their corporations to invest in developing countries.

**Category**
International trade, Economic development