Foreign Direct Investment to Encourage Sustainable Development in South America

Abstract: The seventeen sustainable development goals are the response of the United Nations to make efforts for economic growth, social development, and environmental conservation. International organizations, governments, and the private sector play a fundamental role to achieve the 2030 Agenda of sustainable development. The demand for financial sources brings attention to foreign investment as a source of capital for developing countries. This study aims to investigate if foreign investment effectively influences sustainable development between 2008 to 2019. With data from the World Bank for nine South American countries. This study calculates the economic dimension, social dimension, and environmental dimension to apply three regression models. The results show a positive and significant effect of FDI on the economic and social dimensions. While a negative and nonsignificant effect of FDI on the environmental dimension. The results suggest that FDI is favorable for economic and social development. Although this source of capital lacks to encourage sustainable development in the three dimensions.