Foreign direct investment (FDI): An individual or a firm is located in a foreign country and decides to make an investment in another country.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) is considered a keystone that impacts the economic development of a country. Moreover, its non-debt financial resource nature influences all key aspects of an economy, like foreign exchange, workforce development, capital inflows, etc.
Now, let’s understand the benefits of foreign direct investment and its influence on different industries.
Table of Contents
What Is Foreign Direct Investment or FDI?
In the simplest term, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) involves cross-border investment where a foreign company takes ownership of a company’s day-to-day activities operational in another country. This type of international investment is one of the pivotal financial sources for the economic development of a nation.
FDI usually involves a foreign investor establishing business operations or taking over any company’s business assets in other countries. It also includes taking part directly in the ownership control or acquiring a portion of the interest of a foreign business.
How does Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) work?
The process of FDI typically involves several steps.
➡️First, the investor identifies a potential target company or sector in the foreign country.
➡️They then conduct a detailed analysis of the target company, including its financial performance, management structure, market position, and legal and regulatory environment.
➡️Once the analysis is complete, the investor will negotiate with the target company to determine the terms of the investment.
➡️These terms may include the amount of investment, the percentage of ownership, and the level of control over the target company’s operations.
➡️After the terms have been agreed upon, the investor will transfer the funds to the target company or set up a new subsidiary in the foreign country.
➡️The investor will then take an active role in the management and operations of the target company, using its expertise and resources to drive growth and profitability.
Significance of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
- Economic Growth: FDI plays a vital role in stimulating economic growth in host countries. It brings in capital, technology, managerial expertise, and access to international markets, which can boost productivity, create employment opportunities, and enhance overall economic development.
- Capital Formation: FDI contributes to capital formation in host countries by injecting funds for new businesses, expanding existing ones, or financing infrastructure projects. This influx of capital helps bridge investment gaps and facilitates economic progress.
- Technology Transfer: FDI often brings advanced technologies, technical know-how, and innovation to host countries. Through collaborations and knowledge sharing between foreign investors and domestic firms, technology transfer occurs, leading to improved production processes, product quality, and competitiveness in the local market.
- Employment Generation: FDI has the potential to generate employment opportunities in host countries. Foreign companies establish operations, factories, and offices, which require a workforce, thereby reducing unemployment rates and enhancing human capital development.
- Enhanced Trade: FDI can stimulate international trade by promoting exports and imports. Foreign investors often establish production facilities in host countries to cater to local and international markets, which can lead to increased exports, import substitution, and integration into global value chains.
- Infrastructure Development: FDI can contribute to the development of infrastructure in host countries. Foreign investors may invest in sectors such as transportation, telecommunications, power, and logistics, which not only improves infrastructure quality but also facilitates business activities and economic connectivity.
- Knowledge and Skills Spillover: FDI facilitates knowledge and skills spillover from foreign investors to local firms. Interaction with foreign companies and exposure to their managerial practices, organizational culture, and industry standards can lead to capacity building and the development of a skilled workforce in the host country.
- Financial Stability and Balance of Payments: FDI inflows can strengthen a country’s financial stability by providing a stable and long-term source of capital. It can also contribute to improving the balance of payments position, as FDI brings in foreign currency and reduces reliance on external borrowing.
- Sectoral Development: FDI can promote the growth of specific sectors or industries in host countries. Strategic investments in key sectors like manufacturing, services, technology, and research and development can foster industrialization, diversification, and specialization, leading to a more balanced and sustainable economy.
- Policy Reforms and Institutional Strengthening: Attracting FDI often requires countries to implement policies and reforms that create a conducive business environment. This can lead to improvements in governance, legal frameworks, regulatory systems, and institutional capacity, which benefit the overall business climate and economic governance.
Types of Foreign Direct Investment(FDI)
There are two main types of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI):
- Horizontal FDI: This type of FDI occurs when a company invests in a foreign country to produce the same goods or services that it produces in its home country. In other words, the company replicates its existing operations in a foreign country to serve the local market. The purpose of horizontal FDI is to gain access to new markets, reduce production costs, or circumvent trade barriers.
- Vertical FDI: This type of FDI occurs when a company invests in a foreign country to either acquire raw materials or gain access to intermediate goods or services. The company may also invest in a foreign country to sell its products in the local market or for export. Vertical FDI is driven by the desire to reduce production costs, gain access to specialized inputs, or improve supply chain efficiency.
Vertical FDI can be further classified into two types:
a) Backward integration: This type of FDI occurs when a company invests in a foreign country to acquire raw materials or intermediate goods that it needs to produce its final products. For example, a car manufacturer invests in a foreign country to acquire steel for car manufacturing.
b) Forward integration: This type of FDI occurs when a company invests in a foreign country to sell its final products in the local market or for export. For example, a car manufacturer invests in a foreign country to set up a dealership network and sell its cars in the local market.
FDI can also be classified based on the motive of the investor. For instance, FDI can be made for strategic reasons such as diversifying the investor’s operations, acquiring new technologies, or gaining access to new markets. FDI can also be made for financial reasons such as seeking higher returns, reducing risk, or taking advantage of tax incentives in the host country.
Methods of Foreign Direct Investment(FDI)
- Greenfield Investment: In this method, a foreign investor establishes a completely new business venture in the host country. This involves building new facilities, acquiring land, and setting up operations from scratch. Greenfield investments are often made in sectors such as manufacturing, services, and infrastructure development.
- Merger and Acquisition (M&A): This method involves a foreign investor acquiring an existing local company in the host country. The investor purchases a controlling stake or the entire business, thereby gaining ownership and control. M&A transactions can facilitate market entry, access to an established customer base, distribution networks, and intellectual property rights.
- Joint Ventures: Joint ventures occur when a foreign investor forms a partnership with a local company or investor to establish a new business entity. Both parties contribute capital, resources, and expertise, and share risks and profits. Joint ventures allow for the combination of local knowledge and market understanding with the foreign partner’s technology, managerial skills, and access to global markets.
- Strategic Alliances: Strategic alliances involve collaboration between foreign and local companies to pursue a specific project or objective. Unlike joint ventures, strategic alliances are often less formal and do not result in the formation of a separate legal entity. These alliances can be in the form of technology transfer agreements, research and development partnerships, or marketing and distribution collaborations.
- Cross-Border Mergers: Cross-border mergers involve the merger of two or more companies from different countries to form a single new entity. This method allows companies to pool resources, combine market strengths, and achieve economies of scale and scope. Cross-border mergers are often undertaken to expand market reach, gain competitive advantages, or access complementary capabilities.
- Special Economic Zones (SEZs): Some countries establish special economic zones, which are designated areas with preferential policies and incentives to attract foreign investment. SEZs offer benefits such as tax breaks, streamlined regulations, infrastructure support, and access to a skilled workforce. Foreign investors can set up operations within these zones to take advantage of the favourable investment climate.
- Privatization: Privatization refers to the transfer of state-owned enterprises to private investors, including foreign investors. Governments may decide to sell off public assets to attract foreign investment, promote efficiency, and improve the performance of previously state-controlled industries. Privatization methods can include public offerings, auctioning, or negotiated sales.
- Portfolio Investment: While not classified as FDI, portfolio investment involves the purchase of stocks, bonds, or other financial assets in foreign companies or governments. Portfolio investors do not have direct control over the management of the invested entity, unlike FDI. Nonetheless, portfolio investment can still contribute to capital flows and financial market development in host countries.
Examples of Foreign Direct Investment
Here are some examples of foreign direct investment:
- Toyota’s investment in the United States: Toyota, a Japanese automaker, has invested heavily in the United States to establish manufacturing facilities and expand its production capacity. This investment has allowed Toyota to serve the US market better, reduce transportation costs, and create jobs in the United States.
- Coca-Cola’s investment in India: Coca-Cola, an American beverage company, has invested in India to establish bottling plants, distribution networks, and marketing operations. This investment has allowed Coca-Cola to tap into the growing Indian market for soft drinks and increase its market share.
- Nestle’s investment in China: Nestle, a Swiss food and beverage company, has invested in China to set up manufacturing facilities and expand its product portfolio. This investment has allowed Nestle to serve the local market better, reduce production costs, and access new distribution channels.
Advantages of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
Here are some of the top advantages of FDI from the nation’s perspective:
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Developing the Backward Industries
One of the essential advantages of FDI is that it boosts a business or niche that is backward. Investors with future perspectives directly invest in sectors that they estimate will show massive development in the recent future. This is possible after lots of speculation and forecasting.
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Elevate Employment Opportunities
Foreign direct investment (FDI) boosts the nation’s employment rate to a great extent. Moreover, with the growing investment opportunity available in the market, various sectors, including both manufacturing and service sectors, are evolving and coming up with new ventures.
The development of these new business sectors will create new employment opportunities, eventually reducing the unemployment rate of percentage among the youth – in both skilled and unskilled groups.
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Boosts Economic Growth
As FDI attracts external capital and tremendous revenue for the country, it directly impacts a nation’s economic growth. With the capital gained from FDI, the construction of factories and manufacturing hubs for some sectors occurs. This further creates an opportunity for fast movement of labour, materials and machinery required for production.
A new factory will create employment opportunities, and others will incur other operational costs, which will again influence the money movement in an industry. In addition, the operation of these factories will generate revenues for the government in terms of tax that one directly uses for public development.
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Manpower Development
Another significant benefit of FDI is that it helps develop a resourceful workforce for various industries. Therefore, any investment in a sector will lead to job opportunities, directly increasing the quality of human capital.
In other words, the knowledge and competence level of the workforce will increase through proper training and education about specific jobs. This will develop the workforce and train the nation’s human resources for all job roles and challenges.
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Increase in Export Level
Foreign investors invest their capital in products or services used for domestic and foreign consumption. Therefore, a lot of time, products are exported to other countries as it consists of a global consumption market. Moreover, the lucrative government allowance and 100% Export Oriented Units and Economic Zones attract global investors to boost exports, thus developing them into a powerful industry.
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Improvement in Capital Flow in the Economy
The rate of foreign direct investment or FDI will directly impact the capital flow in an economy. In addition, this inflow of capital helps the nation in economic development, which has domestically limited resources. Better cash reserves support any kind of development within the nation, which benefits business sectors as well as the general population.
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Improvisation of Financial Tools and Provisions
The FDI initiative has bolstered the development of different financial tools and technologies. In addition, apart from international, domestic companies are also coming forward to strengthen the growth of the said industry by creating a hassle-free mode of financial tools and platforms.
Disadvantages of Foreign Direct Investment
While Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) can bring numerous benefits, there are also potential disadvantages associated with it. Here are some common disadvantages of FDI:
- Dependence on Foreign InvestorsHost countries that heavily rely on FDI may become overly dependent on foreign investors. This dependence can lead to vulnerability if investors decide to withdraw their investments or if economic conditions in the investor’s home country deteriorate. It can also limit the autonomy and decision-making power of the host country.
- Repatriation of ProfitsForeign investors often repatriate profits back to their home countries. While this is a legitimate return on investment, it can result in a drain of financial resources from the host country, potentially affecting its balance of payments and foreign exchange reserves.
- Economic LeakageFDI may result in economic leakage, where a significant portion of the profits generated by foreign-owned enterprises leaves the host country. This can occur through repatriation of profits, payment of royalties and fees to foreign parent companies, or the importation of goods and services from the investor’s home country. Economic leakage reduces the economic multiplier effect and may hinder the development of local industries.
- Adverse Impact on Local FirmsThe entry of foreign companies through FDI can pose challenges for local firms, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Foreign investors may have access to advanced technology, economies of scale, and greater financial resources, which can create a competitive disadvantage for local firms. In some cases, domestic companies may struggle to compete and may face the risk of closure or acquisition.
- Labour Market IssuesFDI can have implications for the labour market in the host country. While it can create employment opportunities, it may also introduce labour market distortions. Foreign investors may bring their own workforce or rely on expatriate workers, limiting job creation for local citizens. Moreover, there may be concerns about labour rights, working conditions, and exploitation of workers in some FDI projects.
- Resource Depletion and Environmental ImpactCertain FDI projects, particularly those in extractive industries, can lead to the depletion of natural resources and environmental degradation. Extraction activities may cause pollution, deforestation, or the degradation of ecosystems, impacting biodiversity and local communities. It is essential for host countries to have robust environmental regulations and sustainable practices to mitigate these risks.
- Loss of SovereigntyIn some cases, FDI can raise concerns about the loss of sovereignty and control over key sectors of the economy. Foreign investors may exert significant influence or control over strategic industries, natural resources, or critical infrastructure. This can raise concerns about the host country’s ability to shape its own economic policies and priorities.
- Unequal Distribution of BenefitsFDI may not always result in an equitable distribution of benefits within the host country. The benefits may be concentrated in specific regions or sectors, exacerbating regional disparities and income inequality. Disadvantaged groups or marginalized communities may not benefit equally from FDI, leading to social tensions and inequalities.
- Potential for Economic InstabilityRapid inflows and outflows of FDI can contribute to economic instability in host countries. Sudden withdrawal of foreign investments or volatility in global financial markets can impact exchange rates, interest rates, and overall macroeconomic stability. Host countries need to carefully manage FDI flows and develop policies to mitigate potential risks.
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Effect of Foreign Direct Investment on Different Industries
The Indian government has introduced many policies to support FDI equity inflow in India. For example, 100% FDI is allowed in B2B eCommerce. This has further given a boost to the mode of funding.
When India Brand Equity Foundation calculated the inflow of India’s FDI, it showed a boost of 20x from 2000-01 to 2021-22. While the computer hardware and software industry was the top sector to attract the highest FDI equity inflow (USD 14.46 billion), others also took advantage like:
- Trading: USD 4.53 billion
- Constructive Activities: USD 3.37 billion
- Automobile: USD 6.99 billion
Apart from this, it has also helped Software-as-a-service (SaaS) start-ups to raise a fund of USD 15 million through FDI. Thus, getting started with one’s business has become relatively easy.
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FDI helps create a competitive market by removing domestic monopolies and creating massive opportunities. This healthy competitive economic market pushes companies to explore innovation and motivates them to improve their processes and offerings.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is FDI and example?
FDI stands for Foreign Direct Investment. It is a type of investment in which a company or individual from one country invests in a company or entity located in another country. The aim of FDI is to gain a significant degree of control over the operations of the company being invested in. Eg:oyota, a Japanese automaker, has invested heavily in the United States to establish manufacturing facilities and expand its production capacity. This investment has allowed Toyota to serve the US market better, reduce transportation costs, and create jobs in the United States.
What is FDI and its benefits?
FDI stands for Foreign Direct Investment. It is a type of investment in which a company or individual from one country invests in a company or entity located in another country. The aim of FDI is to gain a significant degree of control over the operations of the company being invested in. The benefits of FDI are as follows: Here are some of the benefits of FDI:
Job creation
Economic growth
Transfer of knowledge and skills
Access to Capital
Competition
What are the three components of FDI?
The three components of FDI are:
Equity capital
Reinvested earnings
Intra-company loans
What are the four types of FDI?
There are four types of foreign direct investment (FDI), which are:
Horizontal FDI
Vertical FDI
Conglomerate FDI
Platform FDI
What is the regulatory framework for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India?
The regulatory framework for FDI in India is governed by the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and the regulations issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) formulates and implements FDI policies in consultation with other government departments.
In which sector is Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) prohibited in India?
While India allows FDI in most sectors, there are a few sectors where FDI is prohibited or subject to significant restrictions. These sectors include atomic energy, the lottery business, gambling and betting, the tobacco industry, and certain defence-related sectors. It's important to consult the current FDI policy and guidelines issued by the government for the most up-to-date information on prohibited sectors.
Which country has the highest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the world?
As of the latest available data, the United States consistently ranks among the countries with the highest FDI inflows. Other countries that attract significant FDI include China, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Brazil. However, FDI flows can vary over time and are influenced by factors such as economic conditions, market attractiveness, and government policies.
