fdi leaders …making location connections

It is always a pleasure to engage with a location which has real depth and its own style and sense of place.  As opposed to some locations, which feel scratched together – a jumble of key industry clusters; an “available flexible highly-skilled workforce”; a few universities; and of course, an international airport within an hour’s drive. These locations which are fabricated for the purposes of FDI attraction tend to wear thin quickly and their lustre soon fades.  Whereas the genuine article shines through consistently.

One such impressive location is the region of Catalunya in Spain. This is a location which doesn’t disappoint in its story telling. While the region’s investment promotion agency ACC10 may have had a few name changes over the years, its story has remained the same, offering a fascinating history with a dynamic present and a confident future.

In FDI promotion, a good understanding of the alphabet is useful, particularly with the letters “X” and “Y”.

These days, the location decision-makers in companies are mostly from Generation X (born between 1965 and 1976), but a lot of their location research is focused on how to attract and retain the talent of Generation Y (born between 1977 and 1998).

The investment promotion agencies are mostly led by Generation X’ers, but their teams are increasingly made up of Generation Y.  To get the right messages across to the Generation X corporates, the IPAs need to ensure that X and Y work together on their messaging and delivery.  So the equation for success is X+Y = FDI.

Best name award for a government fund to attract foreign investors must surely go to Korea’s recently established “Global Win-Win Fund”.  Backed by the state-run Korea Finance Corporation, this fund aims to “help foreign investors hedge and diversify risks” when investing in Korean companies.  It aims to bring in further expertise and technologies to the already uber-tech Korean economy.

Other FDI sweeteners being offered by the Korean government include tax-breaks; easier visa requirements; and the establishment of six free economic zones across the country where foreign investors get financial and legal incentives.