This book is the first to systematically map the last step of the foreign investor's journey, usually referred to as post-investment, aftercare or business retention and expansion.
This book is the first to systematically map the last step of the foreign investor's journey, usually referred to as post-investment, aftercare or business retention and expansion. It provides a wide range of approaches and strategies for host economies to better retain foreign investors, encourage follow-on expansions and achieve greater local economic embeddedness through a multi-stakeholder dialogue, leading to improvement of the overall business climate.
Global foreign direct investments reached US$1.5 trillion in 2019, but this figure reduced by over 42% in 2020, due to the pandemic. Against this backdrop, retaining established investors became even more important. Numerous organisations all over the world are dedicated to attracting foreign companies to invest in their markets. Facilitating this effort is a dynamic and competitive industry that involves international organisations supporting capacity building, think tanks, academia and consultants. However, once foreign companies decide to invest, a critical question arises: how can host economies grow and retain these foreign investments? Many host governments could do much better, as there is very little post-investment support for these foreign companies to help them grow their businesses throughout different stages of investment, business and economic cycles. This is where aftercare comes in. In this book, the authors include diverse examples from around the world to demonstrate aftercare best practices in action.
This book is an essential read for all public administration staff related to FDI attraction and promotion, practitioners in the private sector and FDI consultants. It will also be of great interest to multilateral organisations seeking to organise seminars and training courses for capacity building. The book will also benefit researchers, academics and postgraduate students of international relations, foreign trade and internationalisation.
For further information, see www.aftercareexplained.com.
"Aftercare is arguably more important than the initial landing of FDI. This book demonstrates that with on-going business aftercare, the greater the client's chances are of expansion and economic prosperity."
Craig O'Kane MBE, Former Director of FDI and Capital- The UK Department for International Trade (Australia and New Zealand)
"Read the book and get out to visit your foreign investors; you will discover the difference you can make to your host economy when looking after them."
Anne Have Kjærholm, Head of Tech- Expert in Business Retention & Expansion - Copenhagen Capacity, Denmark
"As an Economic Development Practitioner, I could not put this book down. This is exactly what practitioners need as a guide in doing effective Aftercare. This book provides an easy-to-understand roadmap with examples that every economic development professional should reference as they work in FDI."
Erik Collins, Director of Economic Development in Montgomery County, Dayton, Ohio, USA
