Vale Center Releases Two E-Books on Foreign Direct Investment and Multinational Enterprises

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Vale Center Releases Two E-Books on Foreign Direct Investment and Multinational Enterprises
Public Affairs, 212-854-2650
New York, Feb. 16, 2011--The Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment has released two e-books on foreign direct investment and multinational enterprises in emerging markets.
The research coordinated by the Center and covered in the books details how foreign direct investment (FDI) has become the principal vehicle for international economic transactions. Estimated inflows were $1.1 trillion last year, a more-than-fifty-fold increase from just 25 years earlier, said Karl P. Sauvant, the Center’s executive director.
“Trade issues get the lion’s share of attention when looking at the international economy, but international investment delivers more goods and services across frontiers, and, beyond that, integrates national economies at the level of production,” Sauvant said.
Sauvant noted that in 2009, global sales of foreign companies totaled $29 trillion, compared to $16 trillion for exports of goods and services. The first volume, Inward and Outward FDI Country Profiles, compiles a series of country profiles of inward and outward FDI, peer-reviewed by a global network of experts. It contains reports for 22 countries and is designed to become a reference tool for anyone interested in foreign direct investment.
 
The second e-book, MNEs from Emerging Markets: New Players in the World FDI Market, looks at the phenomenon of multinational enterprises (MNEs) from emerging markets becoming major investors abroad, Sauvant said.
 
“This complements their home countries’ traditional role as recipients of FDI,” added Sauvant, who co-edited both books.
 
To help understand this trend, the Center has produced reports on more than 200 MNEs in 11 emerging markets that look at the scope of each firm’s foreign activity and where they have made investments.
 
These two volumes follow the release last month of FDI Perspectives: Issues in International Investment, which brought together experts on a wide range of issues to further the debate about FDI and look at major trends and events in the field.
 
All of the books are available for free download at www.vcc.columbia.edu.
 
 
The Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment (VCC) seeks to be a leader on issues related to foreign direct investment (FDI) in the global economy, paying special attention to the sustainability dimension of this investment. It focuses on the analysis and teaching of the implications of FDI for public policy and international investment law. Its objectives are to analyze important topical policy-oriented issues related to FDI, develop and disseminate practical approaches and solutions, and provide students with a challenging learning environment. For more information, please see http://www.vcc.columbia.edu.
 
Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, stands at the forefront of legal education and of the law in a global society. Columbia Law School joins its traditional strengths in international and comparative law, constitutional law, administrative law, business law and human rights law with pioneering work in the areas of intellectual property, digital technology, sexuality and gender, criminal, national security, and environmental law.