My math grade was always the lowest on my report cards. It was always fine, but it was always the lowest. I remember one year my mom suggested, astutely, that maybe I just didn鈥檛 want to excel at math.
The latest economic report card from the Conference Board of sa国际传媒 makes me wish my mom could sit down and have a cup of camomile tea with the prime minister. Is there a reason, she might ask gently, why you don鈥檛 want to do better with foreign investment?
The report compares sa国际传媒 with 15 鈥減eer鈥� countries. This year, we get a 鈥淏鈥� overall, and we show improvement from last year. But there鈥檚 a glaring 鈥淒鈥� grade in the 鈥渋nward FDI [foreign direct investment] performance index鈥� category.
This isn鈥檛 a new problem. The report says sa国际传媒 has been a 鈥渃hronic laggard鈥� in attracting foreign direct investment, and in productivity growth.
The two problems are related, since foreign investment can mean importing expertise and technology, and increased competition, which forces firms to be more productive. When we close ourselves off, we stagnate.
Officially, sa国际传媒 is open for business, as the politicians like to say. Foreign investment? Bring it on.
Except we get nervous when it鈥檚 about natural resources. Or telecom. Or hardware-store chains. Or anything big. We like the idea of foreign enterprise in sa国际传媒, so long as it doesn鈥檛 compete with or displace any Canadian-owned businesses.
Gee, I wonder why this is such a hard problem for sa国际传媒 to solve. Maybe we鈥檙e not a laggard because we鈥檙e dumb or unattractive. Maybe we鈥檙e a laggard because we鈥檙e conflicted about what we want.
I don鈥檛 know if there鈥檚 a secret to becoming an 鈥淎鈥� performer in foreign investment, but I know where I鈥檇 start looking for one.
鈥淏elgium is the runaway leader on this indicator, with eight times more inward FDI than its share of the global economy,鈥� says the Conference Board鈥檚 statement. 鈥淏elgium鈥檚 performance effectively lowers the grades of the other 15 countries.鈥�
Belgium is consistently one of the top countries for attracting investment 鈥� not just in Europe, but in the world.
Its geographic position allows it to act as a service hub for Europe, but that鈥檚 not the only reason it does so well. Since the 1960s, the Belgian government has actively sought and welcomed foreign investment. It has created an attractive environment for business generally. It has also carefully created infrastructure and regulations to support certain sectors, such as the pharmaceutical industry.
鈥淒espite a lack of natural resources and a small domestic market, Belgium is one of the most prosperous and competitive countries in the world,鈥� says a 2011 report from the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness at Harvard Business School.
sa国际传媒, in contrast, is blessed with natural resources. Perhaps that鈥檚 why we鈥檝e been complacent when it comes to foreign investment. I鈥檓 not suggesting for a moment that sa国际传媒 in 2013 try to emulate Belgium in the 1960s. This is a different country and a different time.
But we could emulate the strategic approach. Belgium used its geographic location to its advantage. What do we have that we could turn to our advantage? Our natural resources 鈥� our water, our oil 鈥� aren鈥檛 just goodies that foreigners might want to extract.
We don鈥檛 need to emulate Belgium鈥檚 policies, but we could emulate its commitment to make sure its policies are friendly for investors. For a start, requiring a takeover to pass a nebulous 鈥渘et benefit test鈥� is not the way a country acts if it truly wants to attract foreign investment.
It begins by deciding that foreign investment really is something sa国际传媒 wants.
