Micah Rae Asistores
Title: The Role of International Concessional Financing and Foreign Direct Investments in Supporting the Developing Countries’ Transition Towards Sustainable Economic Development
Supervisor: Dr. Margit Kirs
Opponent: Dr. Egert Juuse
Defense: 3 June 2024
Abstract: Foreign Direct Investments has been one of the known sources of funding for countries in order to support Economic Growth and Development in the economy. It has been a term that is easily circulated around when it comes to monetary transactions between territories, and has evolved into different terminologies and models over the years. The essence of it remains unchanged as a financial resource towards a specific project, goal, or objective.This thesis focuses on how international concessional financing and foreign direct investments fuel economic activities both in the public and private sectors and connecting how the global system of production is interrelated with the flow of funding between countries. The discussion includes the role and participation of the Middle-Income Countries in the Global Value Chain, alongside different detours that they could undertake in order to catch up with the forerunners by utilising foreign investments in order to go beyond the “middle-income trap” and move towards economic growth and development. Reviewing reports, articles, and publications that are relevant to the topic, and also some gathered insights from industry players in the investing ecosystem, was essential to discuss a potentially viable benchmark to determine the type of international concessional financing and foreign direct investments that are likely to be most beneficial for developing countries, and to match it with a sound economic strategy towards upgrading is discussed on the empirical part.
Keywords: Foreign Direct Investments, International Concessional Financing, Economic Growth and Development, Global Value Chain, Middle-Income Countries, Strategy, Forerunners, Funding, Middle-Income Trap, Detour, Upgrading
