It's no surprise that the U.S., with its well-developed and still-vibrant economy, tops a just-released list of places where major multinational firms plan to make direct investments during the next one to three years. And, as expected, investors are shifting away from Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, and Thailand -- four nations hit hard by the region's economic turmoil -- in favor of Australia, China, and India (at least before its recent nuclear tests).
But what is surprising is that in addition to the U.S., the UK, and Germany -- all developed markets -- Brazil, China, India, Poland, and Mexico -- all developing markets -- are now among the most favored foreign direct investment locations of 150 CEOs, CFOs, and board members surveyed between February and April by A.T. Kearney Inc., the Chicago-based management consulting unit of Electronic Data Systems Corp. The list of favored locations:
- U.S.
- Brazil
- China
- UK
- India
- Germany
- Poland
- Mexico
- Italy
- Spain
