US President Barack Obama gathered executives from several major international companies on Tuesday, including Ford Motor Co and Deutsche Lufthansa AG, to discuss a White House initiative to encourage investment in the US.
The White House says the program, SelectUSA, has assisted in winning more than US$18 billion in business investments in 17 states and territories.
Obama, US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and other economic advisers joined the executives in a discussion about their US investments.
DYNAMICS
“We have the most dynamic and creative and innovative economy in the world, but we don’t always do what it takes to go after business around the world and make sure that they know the benefits of investing in the largest market on Earth,” Obama said at the beginning of the meeting, addressing reporters.
“And we want to be more systematic about it. We want to make sure that the federal government is working in sync with state and local governments when it comes to locating businesses here in the United States,” Obama said.
Companies represented at the meeting included Swedish telecommunications supplier Ericsson and Zurich NA, a subsidiary of Switzerland’s Zurich Insurance.
ADVANTAGES
“These businesses have recognized the many advantages of locating, growing and hiring in the United States,” White House National Economic Council director Jeff Zients said in a conference call with reporters on Monday.
Lufthansa chief executive officer Carsten Spohr said that low energy prices and infrastructure were good reasons for companies like his to invest in the country.
“I think the United States has discovered or re-discovered that industrial jobs are creating value, that you need to attract those investments into the country,” he said in an interview after the meeting.
MOVING BACK
Obama advisers point to a survey last fall by the Boston Consulting Group, a global management consulting firm, which found that 54 percent of executives of large US-based manufacturing companies said they planned on or were considering moving production facilities back to the US from China.
That was up from 37 percent a year earlier.
And the latest survey of confidence in foreign direct investment by A.T. Kearney, another global management consulting firm, found that the US had regained the top spot as an investment destination for the first time since 2001.
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