Snapshot Series: Benchmarking FDI Competitiveness

Snapshot Caribbean - Benchmarking FDI Competitiveness in Caribbean Countries (June 2007)

The findings of the report show that these Caribbean countries have experienced a steady inflow of FDI, and despite recent natural disasters that have affected the image of the region, countries have increasingly become internationally competitive in the sectors mentioned above. The region is already famous for its tourism and is now striving to become near-shore locations for investors in the export services and shared services sector, and IT. Endowed with natural raw material resources, the region is also showing competitiveness in developing their regional agribusiness value chain. In order to assist the movements of goods and people, Caribbean countries have established regional bodies such as the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). Please download the complete report in order to learn more about investing in the Caribbean.

Snapshot Africa: Benchmarking FDI Competitiveness in Sub-Saharan Africa (January 2007)

Presented in Snapshot Africa are investment costs such as: real estate, utility, transport, labor costs, and quality conditions such as: business climate, corruption, quality of utilities and infrastructure, and availability of labor. These indicators were acquired through desktop research and close to 300 interviews with investors currently operating in Africa. The countries involved in this report include: Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda, covering the textile, apparel, horticulture, food and beverage processing, call center and hotel sectors. The findings of the report show that Africa is ready for business and possesses characteristics that make it a contender for investment for selected sectors. In addition, foreign investors have already chosen a number of locations to operate their business and are finding remarkable success in developing horticulture, processed foods, tourism facilities and call centers. Please download the complete report, or the country specific extracts, in order to learn more about investing in Africa.

Investment Horizons: Western Balkans (May 2006)

The Western Balkans benchmarking study assessed the investment prospects in the food and beverage processing sector for all five countries in the Western Balkan region; in the automotive components sector for all countries other than Albania; and, for Albania alone, in the leather and shoe sector. The motivation for selecting these sectors included their perceived potential to generate significant greenfield FDI, to promote employment, and to improve country trade balances. In addition, the automotive components sector drew special interest because of the massive relocation of vehicle assembly plants in recent years to Central European Countries (CECs)— Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia—in connection with their accession to the EU in May 2004. The relocation wave involving vehicle assembly plants may portend a follow-on wave of relocation by suppliers to these plants, which can benefit the Western Balkan region, particularly in light of the region’s historical track record in automotive component manufacturing. The study’s focus on food/beverage processing related partly to the competitive advantages that some countries in the region display in certain aspects of food and beverage production, as well as the region’s abundant resource base for the sector.

Snapshot Sichuan: Benchmarking FDI Competitiveness in China's Sichuan Province (March 2006)

As part of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency’s Enterprise Benchmarking Program (EBP), a study was conducted in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan among five industries to compare the operating costs and conditions for investors located in ten municipalities. The five industries – chemicals, electronics, food processing, machinery and machine building, and pharmaceuticals and traditional medicine – were chosen based on their current and expected importance to the economic development of Sichuan. The first benchmarking exercise conducted by MIGA at the provincial level, the study relied heavily on interviews with actual investors to: help determine Sichuan’s comparative advantages as a location for investment; and, identify those municipalities best suited for inward investment in the five subject industries. Average labor, utility and real estate costs for investors operating in Sichuan were also compared to those for a group of cities outside the province, including Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai on the coast, and the interior city of Wuhan.

Investment Horizons: Afghanistan (April 2005)

Benchmarking in a conflict-affected country like Afghanistan is necessarily fraught with methodological and logistical difficulties, and the results are far more susceptible to change than those in countries that have not recently undergone conflict. In this sense, these findings should be seen as a “snapshot,” an initial baseline on Afghanistan’s road to recovery. As such, this publication provides valuable information on current areas of strength and opportunity for investment in Afghanistan. However, most important from the investor’s point of view should not so much be the current situation, (which has already significantly improved from recent years), but rather the dynamic movement of the country’s economic and security realities, and the future opportunities created for business. As the findings make clear, and as is true across many sectors, investors entering Afghanistan now will benefit from being “first movers” in a virgin market that is highly pro-business.

Snapshot Asia: Benchmarking FDI Competitiveness (October 2003)

The study was designed to set a baseline, or benchmark, across a range of factors against which relative strengths, improvements in the investment climate, and changes in sector dynamics could be measured. Benchmarking was a new and unique approach for the participating countries’ IPIs. Although all the six countries are experienced in promotion activity, it has been very difficult for the IPIs to conduct the sort of analysis that will differentiate the countries in the marketplace, and help them compete for FDI. Specifically, they have not conducted in-depth research and analysis of costs and conditions relative to their competitors, which allows for positioning of country sites as “products” for investors to evaluate.