Investment Promotion: The road to maturity
Investment promotion agencies and economic development teams are increasingly adept at attracting international companies and growing their locations. We see sector specific segmentation and an understanding that “liveability” and the values behind your place brand are as important as tax incentives. However, relatively few locations have developed the policies, processes and mindsets necessary to help the businesses they have worked so hard to attract actually thrive. This blog discusses the basic principles of Aftercare, and, with a couple of examples, shows the value Aftercare can deliver.
In business, it’s well known that acquiring a new customer is much more expensive than retaining an existing one, “five to 25 times more expensive”[1] according to one study. Moreover, “increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by at least 25% up to 95%.”[2] The same principles apply to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) - fostering long-term constructive relationships with foreign investors results in a higher ROI for both investors and host locations. Aftercare is the umbrella term for the activities which support a foreign investor after they have made the initial decision to invest in a location, and it should form part of the economic development toolkit of any location. The outputs of well thought out Aftercare programme include more new jobs, further capital investment by investors and faster (local) economic growth.
It's great to see that you're enjoying our content.
You've already read one article this month. Please sign in or create an account to continue reading - it's completely free and will only take a minute!
Thank you for using City Nation Place!
To access please sign in