Foreign direct investment in Oakland County was $357 million in 2015, more than double the amount invested in 2014, L. Brooks Patterson, executive of Oakland County, announced today. He says foreign direct investment accounted for more than 40 percent of the county’s total private business investment in 2015.
“We’re garnering more foreign investment in Oakland County that most states don’t achieve,” Patterson says. “Oakland County has a business-friendly environment, a quality of life that is second to none, and the word is getting out about opportunities for global businesses to succeed here.”
Patterson says Oakland County has seen $1.5 billion of investment over the past two years.
Significant foreign direct investment — which refers to an investment from a company that is headquartered outside of the United States — in 2015 came from Canada-based suppliers Magna International Inc. and Valiant Corp.; Germany-based auto suppliers Dürr Systems Inc. and BASF Corp.; Saudi Arabia-based Aramco Research; China-based NEAPCO America; and Belgian company Umicore Autocat USA Inc. The companies accounted for a total investment of nearly $227 million, resulting in nearly 2,200 new and retained jobs.
The countries of origin for investments in Oakland County in 2015 include eight from China, seven from Japan, six from Germany, four from Canada, three from Korea, three from France, and one each from Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, and Turkey. Oakland County has more than 1,000 firms from nearly 40 countries.
Patterson says the investments are part of the county’s Emerging Sectors business attraction strategy, created in 2004 to diversify Oakland County’s economy. Target sectors include advanced electronics, advanced materials, alternative energy, information technology/communications, aerospace, and defense/homeland security.
Business development trips to encourage companies to locate to Oakland County are planned to Europe, Asia, and North America in 2016. The county will also send a delegation to Washington, D.C. for the Select USA Summit to meet with international companies interested in expanding into the United States.
