Global foreign direct investment flows fell by 23 percent in 2017, to $1.43 trillion from $1.87 trillion in 2016, according to the World Investment Report 2018 released Wednesday by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. The decline is in stark contrast to other macroeconomic variables, which saw substantial improvement in 2017, the organization said. The global fall was caused in part by a 22 percent decrease in the value of cross-border mergers and acquisitions. Projections for global FDI in 2018 show growth is forecast to increase marginally, by up to 10 percent, but remain well below the average over the past 10 years, the report said. For the U.S., inward FDI flows totaled $275.38 billion, down from $456.13 billion in 2016. Outward FDI flows were $342.27 billion, up from $280.68 billion in 2016. Increasing foreign direct investment locally is a goal of the Greater Des Moines Partnership, which two years ago launched Global DSM, a comprehensive global trade and investment plan aimed at accelerating the growth of key advanced industry clusters, including agriculture, bioscience, and finance and insurance, through global engagement.