Re: Argentina, Australia and Canada (Comparative FDI)

["Grant Lee" <grantlee@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bill Burgess <burgess@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> country         inward FDI stock/GDP    outward FDI stock/GDP
> Canada  23.9%                   26.9%
> Australia       28.1                    17.1
> UK              23.3                    35.9
> France  11.7                    15.9
> Singapore       85.8                    56.1
> Malaysia        67.0                    22.7
> Indonesia       73.3                    2.4
> Argentina       13.9                    5.4
> Brazil          17.1                    1.4

Interesting figures. I haven't had time to look at the comparable figures
for other countries. In any case they don't prove a permanent/structural
exclusion from "imperial" activity. For example, what about Hong Kong
(pre-1997, not that it is yet a homogenous part of China)? The last I heard
there was hardly any manufacturing left in Hong Kong because proprietors had
shifted operations to the mainland. South Africa? Saudi Arabia?

> Note the
> obvious difference in rates of outward FDI, plus the fact that most FDI by
> Canada, France, etc. is in other imperialist countries while most FDI by
> Indonesia, Argentina, etc. is in fellow semi-colonies.

Every bourgeoisie has to start somewhere. For example --- and I'm not going
to revisit the complexities and vitriol of the "Kenya Debate" --- but I just
came across this on the web:

Andrea Goldstein and Njuguna S. Ndung'u, OECD Development Centre Technical
Paper No. 171: "New Forms Of Co-Operation And Integration In Emerging Africa
Regional Integration Experience, March 2001.

quote: (p. 16) Table 5. Import Sources (1997)*

                        (From)    Kenya Tanzania Uganda

(To)    Kenya                    -        0**        0**
          Tanzania               10.4     -            0
          Uganda                 25.9    0**        -

* These are percentages of total imports for the respective country.
**The percentages are very small.
Source:Report of the permanent Tripartite Commission for East African
Co-operation: 1996-98.

Obviously exports are not investment but the above suggests one reason why
(p. 24) "... there are also restrictions on Kenyan investment in Uganda and
Tanzania..." (24)

> Singapore's inward
> and outward rates are both high, but note that inward FDI is still  well
> above outward FDI in this city-state where annual trade is also 160%
> !!!  of GDP.

That trend is not unusual for countries with small populations and highly
developed economies. What are the comparative figures for Belgium and
Switzerland?

Regards,

Grant.