Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

Foreign Direct Investmentinvestment rules, as well as operational flexibility
Foreign direct investment is defined as a companyhave all contributed to help increase the inflow of
from one country, which makes a physicalForeign Direct Investment. Foreign Direct
investment into constructing a factory in anotherInvestment is made of any form of investment
one. The company can also make investments tothat can earn interest in enterprises functioning
acquire lasting interest in enterprises that operateoutside the investor’s territory.
outside the economy it invested in. The link withFDIs also require a relationship between a parent
the FDI is made of a parent enterprise and acompany and its foreign subsidiary. So that an
foreign affiliate, forming together a corporation,investment can be seen as an FDI, the parent
known as multinational.company has to have a minimum 10% of the
To qualify as FDI, this investment must also allowordinary shares of the foreign affiliates it is doing
and afford the control of the parent enterprisebusiness with. At the same time, the investing
over the foreign affiliate. This kind of control iscompany can qualify for an FDI as long as it has
defined by the UN as owning 10% or more of thethe voting power in a business enterprise that
shares or voting power of a firm, which isoperates in a foreign country.
incorporated, or the exact equivalent for anFDIs can be classified into two types, based on
unincorporated one. In this context, ownershipthe types of restrictions imposed, and the
shares that are lower are known to be portfolioprerequisites for these investments, namely
investment.outward FDIs and inward FDIs.
Global FDI was dominated by the United States inThe government against all types of risks ensures
the postwar period, accounting for aboutthe first type; it is subject to tax, and the risk
three-quarters of the new FDI, reinvested profitscoverage provided to the domestic industries
included. Since that time, the 60s, FDI hasgranted to the local companies stand in the way
continued to spread and eventually became aof the first type of FDIs, also bearing the name
global phenomenon. Global economy now has anof “direct investments abroad. However,
ever growing, increasing in importance, with FDIthe inward FDIs is more encouraged, as they
stock constituting over 20 percent of global Grossinclude interest loans, tax breaks, grants, subsidies,
Domestic Product.as well as the removal of restrictions and
Continuous economic growth, de-regulation, liberallimitations.