Indicator 17.3.1 Foreign direct investment, official development assistance and South-South cooperation as a proportion of gross national income

Indicator 17.3.1: Additional financial resources mobilized for developing countries from multiple sources

Target 17.3: Mobilize additional financial resources for developing countries from multiple sources

OECD Development Co-operation Directorate

UNCTAD Statistics Service

Annual gross receipts by developing countries of: a. Official sustainable development grants, b. Official concessional sustainable development loans, c. Official non-concessional sustainable development loans, d. Foreign direct investment, e. Mobilised private finance (MPF) on an experimental basis, and f. Private grants.

a. Official sustainable development grants

Grants are transfers in cash or in kind for which no legal debt is incurred by the recipient.

b. Official concessional sustainable development loans

Loans are transfers in cash or in kind for which the recipient incurs legal debt. A concessional transfer is one which gives something of value away. For the purposes of this indicator, a loan will be regarded as concessional if it embodies at least a 35% grant element when its service payments are discounted at 5% p.a. This test is derived from the World Bank-IMF Debt Sustainability Framework for Low Income Countries and has also been adopted in the TOSSD framework.

See:

• https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/Policy-Papers/Issues/2018/02/14/pp122617guidance-note-on-lic-dsf
• https://www.tossd.org/docs/reporting-instructions.pdf

c. Official non-concessional sustainable development loans

These are loans (see above) which bear a grant element of less than 35% when their service payments are discounted at 5% p.a.

d. Foreign direct investment

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a category of investment that reflects the objective of establishing a lasting interest by a resident enterprise in one economy (direct investor) in an enterprise (direct investment enterprise) that is resident in an economy other than that of the direct investor. The lasting interest implies the existence of a long-term relationship between the direct investor and the direct investment enterprise and a significant degree of influence on the management of the enterprise. The direct or indirect ownership of 10% or more of the voting power of an enterprise resident in one economy by an investor resident in another economy is taken as evidence of such a relationship. For OECD Benchmark Definition of Foreign Direct Investment - 4th Edition and UNCTAD work on Foreign Direct Investment Statistics.

See:

• https://www.oecd.org/investment/fdibenchmarkdefinition.htm
• https://unctad.org/topic/investment/investment-statistics-and-trends

This sub-indicator is not restricted to developing countries.

e. Mobilised private finance (MPF) on an experimental basis

Mobilised private finance (MPF) consists of private resource flows for activities in developing countries which have been mobilised by interventions of multilateral development banks (MDBs), bilateral development finance institutions, or other bilateral agencies, i.e. where a direct causal link between the official intervention and the private resources can be demonstrated. The OECD method for counting MPF is used; see https://www.oecd.org/dac/financing-sustainable-development/development-finance-standards/mobilisation.htm. MPF is a “memorandum item” because it would likely include and overlap with some finance that would also be found in the FDI sub-indicator. MPF data are typically collected on a commitment basis, rather than in terms of developing country receipts. This indicator excludes private flows mobilised in recipient countries themselves as they do not constitute additional resources. The indicator is included on an experimental basis, and it is recommended that it be reviewed during the 2025 review of SDG indicators.

f. Private grants

Private grants are here taken to mean grants for developmental purposes from private institutions outside the recipient country, excluding commercial flows and personal transactions such as remittances. They essentially comprise grants from philanthropic foundations and other non-governmental organizations.

Sustainable development criteria

Based on the Group’s discussions, and building on the work of the TOSSD Task Force, the following cascading approach will be used to identify flows that can be considered as supporting sustainable development:

1. Flows within the proposed indicators and sub-indicators detailed below and identified individually, such as a specific activity in provider reporting systems, should be included if they directly support either (i) at least one of the SDG targets or (ii) an objective in the recipient country’s development plan as long as this is directed towards supporting or achieving sustainable development, with the following exceptions:

a. Flows for activities where a substantial detrimental effect is anticipated on one or more of the other targets.

b. Flows where the recipient country, after discussion with the custodian agency and/or the reporting provider country, objects to their characterization as supporting its sustainable development.

2. Flows, or portions of flows within the proposed indicators and sub-indicators detailed below for which data are only available at the aggregate country-to-country level are also considered as supporting sustainable development, subject to the same exceptions as under 1.a and 1.b.

Note that some sub-indicators may contain a mixture of activity-specific and aggregate-level flow data and therefore require assessment against 1 and 2 respectively. Also note that further specific exclusions are proposed, as detailed below, that may in some cases be considered to reinforce the focus of the proposed indicators on the sustainable development of developing countries.

US dollar

Existing databases established at the International Forum on TOSSD (hosted by the OECD), the OECD and UNCTAD will serve as a data source. At the OECD and the International Forum on TOSSD, this includes data collected through TOSSD reporting as well as traditional OECD-DAC-CRS reporting, with certain adjustments to the data in accordance with the requirements of this proposal. At the UNCTAD, this includes existing data on foreign direct investment, and pilot studies towards reporting on South-South cooperation.

National development co-operation agencies, national ministries, national statistical offices, development finance institutions, multilateral institutions, philanthropic foundations and central banks

The indicator is feasible, suitable and relevant.

Some providers will be reporting on sub-indicators 17.3.1.a, 17.3.1.b and 17.3.1.c to OECD and the International Forum on TOSSD while some providers will report on these sub-indicators to UNCTAD according to the agreed conceptual framework on South-South cooperation developed by the sub-Group on South-South cooperation.

Sub-indicator 17.3.1.d (FDI) is reported to UNCTAD by recipients according to the current reporting arrangements.

Some multilateral and bilateral providers are reporting on sub-indicator 17.3.1.e mobilized private finance to OECD. Mobilized private finance is not part of the conceptual framework of South-South cooperation. Some providers that are engaging in this form of development finance may approach UNCTAD regarding the pilot testing and further development of this indicator for wider and global application.

Some countries will report on 17.3.1.f to OECD. Private grants are not part of the conceptual framework of South-South cooperation. Some providers can report on private grants to UNCTAD on a voluntary basis as part of a pilot exercise.

UNCTAD and the International Forum on TOSSD (the Secretariat of which is hosted by the OECD) as co-custodians have undertaken to ensure that there are no overlaps in global reporting for this indicator in cases where countries or multilaterals provide their information to both organizations.

The indicator does not include debt relief, in-donor refugee costs, administrative costs not allocated to specific development activities, or peace and security expenditures other than those reportable as official development assistance (ODA). Furthermore, it does not include private non-concessional loans; portfolio investment; export credits, whether official, officially-supported, or private; short-term flows with an original maturity of 1 year or less; or any other flows that are not within the scope of the proposed sub-indicators. These exclusions sharpen the focus of the indicator on transfers of new resources to developing countries for sustainable development purposes, while excluding commercially-motivated debt-creating flows. While there was broad support for all exclusions during the discussions of the Working Group and the open consultation, and while there were relatively few objections to specific exclusions, some countries nevertheless believe that all exclusions should be reviewed in the context of the 2025 review.

While the sub-indicators follow the recipient perspective, the data for all proposed sub-indicators except foreign direct investment are reportable by the providers and subsequently aggregated by recipient. Foreign direct investment is as reported by recipients.

2024-03-28

International Forum on TOSSD (independent entity hosted by the OECD) and UNCTAD

10.b.1, 17.2.1, 17.3.2, 17.4.1, 17.5.1 17.9.1 (and others)

1