In This Issue

• Spotlight: FDI Driving Global Competitiveness and Innovation
• Success Story: Strong First Year for Foreign-Owned South Carolina Tire Manufacturing Plant
• Highlight: Funding Available: International Engagement Ready Communities Competition

Spotlight: FDI Driving Global Competitiveness and Innovation

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) plays an important role in the U.S. economy. It leads to the creation of jobs, an increase in wealth and living standards, and overall growth and innovation that drive the U.S. economic competitiveness.

The United States remains an attractive destination for FDI for a variety of reasons, including a large consumer base, a productive workforce, a highly innovative environment, and legal protections. As a result, foreign firms make investments in the United States on a regular basis by establishing new operations, purchasing existing operations of another company, or providing additional capital to their existing U.S. operations.

The U.S. welcomes foreign investment, and the numbers show that investors have confidence in the opportunities here. With a population of 320 million and a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that's over $18 trillion, our nation is home to more FDI stock than any other country.

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Success Story: Strong First Year for Foreign-Owned South Carolina Tire Manufacturing Plant

In 2014, EDA partnered with South Carolina's Chester County Sewer District through a $2.2 million grant - matched with $1.5 million in local funds - to make sewer infrastructure upgrades needed to serve a new manufacturing plant that became the first North American manufacturing facility for the 10th largest tire company in the world.

Giti Tire is now well into a year of successful business operations in Chester County. The company, which opened its doors in June 2016, plans to invest $560 million and create 1,700 new jobs over the next decade in order to meet the growing demand of the North American market.

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Highlight: Funding Available: International Engagement Ready Communities Competition

EDA has announced the availability of funding for the FY 2017 International Engagement Ready Communities Competition. This $600,000 program seeks to help drive foreign direct investment (FDI) in U.S. communities with diverse economic development needs by enhancing their FDI attraction and export promotion efforts.

Through this program, EDA, SelectUSA, and the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC) will support empirical research on successful international engagement strategies and develop best practice reports and a competitiveness assessment tool. These elements will be incorporated into a user-friendly economic development organization (EDO) toolkit and training guide to help local communities assess and increase their ability to become globally competitive while enhancing their trade and FDI promotion activities.

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