U.S. President George W. Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson are embarking on a campaign to convince other nations that the United States remains open to foreign investment, despite recent rows over attempted international takeovers, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

Bush is expected to release a statement Thursday, hailing foreign investment as key to creating jobs, stimulating growth and boosting productivity in the United States.

Past presidents have made similar statements, and the last one was released 15 years ago by his father.

Paulson, meanwhile, said in an interview that he plans to "go on the offensive" and will host a panel at George Washington University Thursday to tout the benefits of foreign investment, before heading to St Louis to visit two foreign-owned companies Friday.

The report said that the push comes amid a weakening of foreign direct investment in the United States, or investment of foreign assets into domestic organizations and structures such as manufacturing facilities and real estate.

Such investments peaked in 2000 with 321 billion U.S. dollars invested by foreign firms, but fell off after Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, hitting 184 billion dollars in 2006, according to the report.

The decline has coincided with a growing perception overseas that the United States is hostile to foreign investment and to foreign countries in general, said the report. Those concerns have been fueled by the war in Iraq as well as controversies surrounding foreign companies' efforts to buy assets in the United States, it said.

An outcry erupted last year when a Dubai-owned company tried to buy operations at five American ports, and complaints flew in 2005 when a state-owned Chinese company tried to buy Unocal Corp, the report said.