Access to global knowledge resources is indispensable for improvement of competitiveness of the economy. Foreign direct investment (FDI) is one of the channels through which international diffusion of technological knowledge takes place. Nevertheless, FDI do not always involve transfer of technological knowledge. There is a feedback effect between absorption capacity between the FDI level and saturation with knowledge. Human capital is a key factor here. On the one hand, FDI inflow depends on access to strategic assets in the host country, especially to human capital. On the other hand, the activities of transnational corporations, being the main carrier of FDI, may contribute to increased formation of strategic resources. The scale of advantages from knowledge transfer a FDI hosting economy can obtain grows with the level of its advancement. They depend mostly on an appropriate level of endowment with human capital and on involvement of enterprises and the economy in research and scientific activities.