Japan as 196th

One hundred ninety-sixth out of 196 countries. Just behind North Korea. That’s how Japan ranked in 2019 when the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) measured the cumulative stock of inward foreign direct investment (FDI) as a share of gross domestic product (GDP).1 FDI ranges from foreign companies setting up new facilities to them buying domestic companies. What a shocking result considering the 20 years Tokyo has spent trying to increase its cumulative stock of FDI. Unless policymakers understand why past efforts have failed, Tokyo is unlikely to realize the new goal it announced in June: to hike inward FDI to 12 percent of GDP by 2030.