5 Big Foreign Direct Investment Trends, According to a Site Selector
October 1, 2015 | By: DCI
Last week, DCI hosted nearly 30 executives from international investment promotion agencies and foreign consulates at our new NYC office for a special event, “A Look into Foreign Investment Trends.” A highlight for many was the presentation by Jason Hickey, President of Hickey & Associates, who shared his insights into these top trends he is seeing in FDI throughout the world:
- A Focus on Currency Exchange Rates: Jason said that the number one trend he is seeing in global FDI is that companies are increasingly focusing on currency exchange rates. He pointed out that the day before his session saw the greatest gap between the U.S. dollar and yen and said that these constant shifts are affecting the way that companies are investing.
- Increased Flow of FDI: There will be an uptick in 2016 in global FDI flow, including in countries like Poland and Portugal.
- Diversification: Many companies are diversifying all over the world. There will continue to be big investments in the Asia-Pacific region, but at the same time, Jason is seeing major diversification into the West, like Europe.
- Africa – From Commodities to Tech: Another trend that Jason has identified is a shift in the types of American companies investing in Africa. In the past, much of the investment into Africa by American companies came from those in commodities. However, Jason said that companies are getting away from commodity investments and getting into more technical investments, particularly in nations with stable governments.
- Emphasis on Productivity: In that past, companies were rushing to invest in parts of the world that had cheap labor, Jason said, but companies are now placing more of an emphasis on looking for highly productive labor. Jason noted countries that are home to productive workforces include Japan, the U.S., Greece, Italy, Sweden and Germany.