are there any positive points of foreign direct investment?

[Vishnu Sunny]

all i've got to hear is it'll lead to foreign intervention into our economy, cut down the small scale industry and retail, unemployment,increase income to abroad rather than income from abroad etc etc etc....all these points seem to be completely against the good being of the country....are there any good points in contrast to these? a brief explanation would be nice....

[simplicitus]

Sure. FDI is like any other investment.

- Think of all the auto workers in plants in the U.S. building Toyotas, Nissans, Hondas, and BMWs. The workers have jobs, the local communities have local industry, etc. In these times of high unemployment, most incoming FDI would be welcomed by just about all communities.

Furthermore, there is every evidence that foreign auto companies do a better job of managing American workers than do American auto companies.
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-ar.../403/nummi
http://ja-jp.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=64668829737
It took GM decades to learn something, but there are still people and companies in the U.S. can learn a great deal from these FDI corporations and their management.


- Think of all the people benefiting from cheaper furnishings at Ikea stores

As for "increase income to abroad rather than income from abroad", that is clearly nonsense. When an American buys a Toyota manufactured in the U.S. most of the money stays in the U.S. When the same buyer purchases a Toyota made in Japan, much more of the purchase price goes to japan to pay the Japanese workers.

And the American is buying a Toyota because for decades the "American" auto companies (such as GM, which does not do most of its manufacturing in the U.S.) just wouldn't manufacture the kinds of cars that japanese manufacturers offerred and Americans wanted to buy.

- Then there is technology transfer. Back in 2006, Toray Industries Inc. (one of Japan's biggest industrial textiles companies) signed a deal with Boeing to proved the carbon fiber matts for the Boeing Dreamliner
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.c...webtoray25
But to stay close to its customer, Toray actually built a plant for the contract in the U.S.
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.c...ug=toray08
So yet more americans are learning what it takes to produce aerospace quality carbon fiber components, which can't but help the U.S. economy in the future.