Imoprtant Factors Behind Country Choice : - where to invest? -

Abstract: Master Thesis, School of Management and Economics, Växjö University. FE3014 - International Marketing Strategy, spring 2008. Title: Important Factors Behind Country Choice - Where to invest? Keywords: FDI, choice of country, market entry, factors behind country choice. Background: The competition between countries is fierce to attract foreign direct investment, different countries offer different actitivities and factors influencing foreign companies. Simoultaniously, companies have to take active part in their choice of host country for their investments. Purpose: To examine foreign companies established in Sweden and their external environment and determine important factors when deciding in what country to invest in. Objective: To give recommendations to Sweden and concerned parties regarding what factors they should highlight to attract foreign direct investment. Theoretical framework: Scientific research appoints different factors behind an investor’s choice of country. When a company operates on the international market they are depended on serveral variables and factors connected to the company’s internal operations and their external environment. The decsion is critical and many factors have to be considered to find the optimal country to enter. Methodology: We have used qualitative casestudies involving six foreign companies established in Sweden. Face-to-face together with email interviews, and additional secondary information have been practised to evaluate contemporay theories, to understand what factors are most important. Conclusion: From the eleven most freqeuently discussed factors in theory we found that six of them can be identified as important, whereas investors should evaluate these factors with great consciousness.