International Study Ranks Chicago as a Top Location for Foreign Investment; Chicago Only U.S. City to Make List

[John Patterson]

Chicago is the sole U.S. city to achieve the status of top international city for foreign investment in 2008, in a study released at October’s International Economic Development Conference in Reno, Nevada.

The Annual Global Location Trends report, is based on IBM’s proprietary Global Investment Locations Database (GILD), which records investment project announcements around the world to analyze global trends in corporate location decision making.

With the growing role of cities in the global economy, this was the first year that IBM included cities in the study, noting, “Cities, themselves virtually complete economies in some instances, are increasingly becoming the focal points of global economic activity, and analysis of their performance offers a more granular picture of trends at the country level.”

Calculated by the number of foreign investment projects generating at least 10 new jobs, cities topping the list included London, Singapore and Paris. Chicago was the only U.S. city with a top ranking.

“The Global Location Trends report validates that Chicago is truly a top global business destination,” said Rita Athas, president of World Business Chicago. “Despite the slow economy in 2008, Chicago continued to attract investment due to factors including the city’s diverse economy and access to international markets.”

The GILD database is maintained by IBM-Plant Location International (IBM-PLI), a specialized service within IBM Global Business Services that provides advice to global companies on their location strategies, covering all sectors and types of business functions. The results of 2009’s Global Location Trends were presented at IEDC’s 2009 Annual Conference in Reno, Nevada. Download the full report at www.worldbusinesschicago.com or www.ibm.com/gbs/pli.