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Background
Inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has played a major role in the process of economic transformation and growth that many less developed and newly industrialized countries from around the world have witnessed over the past two decades. The massive infusion of capital, technology and managerial expertise from the industrialized countries have benefited these emerging markets, so much so that within a short period of time some of their enterprises have amassed sufficient capital, knowledge and know-how to invest abroad on their own and earn the status of emerging multinationals (EMNCs). The number of Fortune 500 companies headquartered outside the Triad has risen from 26 in 1988 to 47 in 2004. In 1998, the largest EMNC had 6.14 per cent of the foreign assets of the world’s largest MNC; by 2003 this ratio has almost quadrupled to 22.84 per cent.
Since 2003, the rate of outward FDI (OFDI) growth by companies from emerging markets has outpaced that of companies from the industrialized countries. This trend will likely continue in the years ahead. Inasmuch as EMNCs have become a permanent, sizeable and rising feature of the world economy, they can no longer be regarded as idiosyncrasies or artefacts. It is essential to acknowledge their intrinsic characteristics and qualities.
This experts’ meeting aims at discussing some of the key issues regarding OFDI from emerging
markets, including:
> the size, motives and patterns of internationalisation by EMNCs;
> the contribution that EMNCs make to the global economy, not least by investing in other developing countries, as a burgeoning instance of south-south cooperation, in particular supporting the dynamics of regional integration and reinforcing the stimuli created by regional agreements;
> the challenges that they are most likely to encounter in their quest abroad (e.g., difficulties in creating sustained competitive edges over well-established incumbents and managing complex operation processes that require both foreign adaptation and cross-border integration);
> the implications for OECD countries (governments, firms, and civil society) both in the countries themselves – as EMNCs become important sources of FDI, employers, and providers of goods and services – and in non-OECD ones – as competitors as well as important actors in the development of the private sector in hitherto unexplored markets.
With support of
For more information please contact Andrea Goldstein.
Bookmark this site: www.oecd.org/dev/meetings/emncs
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