24.4 71.8 81.5__________________________________________________________________source: World Investment Report 1996, UN, 1996__________________________________________________________________Table 1 indicates that industrialized countries direct investment in less developed societies are concentrating on three regions, but with very asymmetric emphasis. Latin America and the Caribbean increased its share from 6.75 to 8.9%, while Central and Eastern Europe accounted for 2.3% of world inflows in the 1990s as against a meagre 0.5% in the 1980s.Of course, the most dramatic growth ocurred in Sout, South East and East Asia, which rocketed from 8.5% to 18.2% of world direct investment. Within the region, China was the individual country with the highest increase, from 2.0% to 9.2%.Africa saw its share shrinking to 1.7% from 2.4%, while, among the industrialized countries the European Union also was a 'most preferred' are for transnational capital attention, increasing its share from 33% to 40%.Within less developed countries, the 14 'most invested' (see Table 2) reached a 24.4% of world total as against only 13.8 in the 1980s. This spectacular growth was totally due to the Asian countries jumping from a share of 7.9% to a share of 17.2, of which more than half is accounted for by China.One indicator of how concentrated are direct investment by transnational corporations in less developed societies is captured in Table 2 columns 3 and 4, which show than investment in the "great 8 of Asia" shot up to 57.3% of total investment in less developed societies from 41%. For the '14 most invested countries', the share grew from 71.8% to 81.5%.Thus, when we think "globalization" reaching less developed societies we must not forget that only 14 countries out of almost 200, are receiving about 82% of the financial globalization.THE TRIAD MOVES AHEADIn the new carving of planet earth in spheres of economic, political and cultural sphere...
