Developing countries also generated record levels of FDI outflows, much of it directed to other developing countries. This further demonstrates the growing importance of developing economies to the world economy, and of South-South cooperation and investment for sustainable development. These figures have been reported by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

International production is expanding, with foreign sales, employment and assets of multinational companies all increasing. Their production worldwide generated value-added of approximately $16 trillion in 2010, about a quarter of global GDP. Multinational companies are increasingly engaging with developing and transition economies through a broadening array of production and investment models, such as contract manufacturing and farming, service outsourcing, franchising and licensing. These relatively new phenomena present opportunities for developing and transition economies to deepen their integration into the rapidly evolving global economy, to strengthen the potential of their home-grown productive capacity, and to improve their international competitiveness.