Foreign investments are scrutinized because they shape the future of globalization. While the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is concerned about the fragmentation of the planet’s economy and the rise of protectionism, the latest figures show that globalization, far from slowing down, is in the process of being recomposed.
“The decarbonization of the economy and the irruption of geopolitics in the economy are the two major axes of transformation”, observes Vincent Vicard, Deputy Director of the Center for Prospective Studies and International Information, based on the annual report on foreign direct investment (FDI) of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Cnuced) , published Wednesday, July 5. Admittedly, they fell by 12% in 2022, largely due to the decline in financial transactions within multinational companies, but they remain stable if we take into account the value of new investment projects.
The most significant increase concerns FDI in the electric battery sector, mainly destined for rich countries and which, according to Cnuced, have “exploded over the past two years, reaching $116 billion [103,3 milliards d’euros] in 2022 ». The United States is the main beneficiary, since it has attracted 40% of them since 2021, against only 15% between 2016 and 2020, dethroning the European Union, which totals only 30% over this period. , compared to 50% previously.
Investors come from China: Amperex Technology and Gotion High Tech have announced that they will spend 7.5 billion and 2.4 billion dollars respectively in the construction of electric battery factories in Hungary and the United States. Investments favored by major plans such as the Inflation Reduction Act, implemented by Washington to strengthen the position of the United States by distributing subsidies in exchange for a share of local production. “Some subsidies are beneficial when, for example, they promote research and development, but, in the case of production subsidies, they are harmful”, regrets Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
These investments elude most emerging countries. The only one that is doing well is Indonesia, which reserves its vast nickel resources in priority to industrialists who build factories on its soil, like the Taiwanese Foxconn. The latter announced, at the end of 2022, that he would pay 8 billion dollars on the spot.
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