Английский язык. Практический курс для решения бизнес-задач Пусенкова Нина
Supporters of democratic globalization consider that the first phase of globalization, which was market-oriented, should be completed by a phase of building global political institutions representing the will of world citizens.
Supporters of free trade point out that free trade leads to a more efficient allocation of resources, with all countries involved in the trade benefiting from lower prices, higher employment and output.
Libertarians say higher degrees of political and economic freedom produce higher levels of material wealth.
Advocates of globalization say that statistics strongly support globalization:
The percentage of people in developing countries living below US$1 per day has halved in only 20 years.
Life expectancy has almost doubled in the developing world since WWII and is starting to close the gap to the developed world where the improvement has been smaller. Child mortality has decreased in every developing region of the world. Income inequality for the world as a whole is diminishing.
Democracy has increased dramatically from almost no nation with universal suffrage in 1900 to 62.5% of all nations in 2000.
Between 1950 and 1999, global literacy increased from 52% to 81%.
There are similar trends for electricity, cars, radios, and phones per capita.
Measurement of Globalization
To what extent a nation-state or culture is globalized in a particular year has until most recently been measured employing simple proxies like flows of trade, migration, or FDI. A more sophisticated approach to measuring globalization is the recent index calculated by the Swiss think tank KOF. The index measures the three main dimensions of globalization: economic, social, and political. In addition to three indices measuring these dimensions, an overall index of globalization and sub-indices referring to actual economic flows, economic restrictions, data on personal contact, data on information flows, and data on cultural proximity is calculated. According to the index, the world’s most globalized country is the USA, followed by Canada, the United Kingdom, and France. The least globalized countries according to the KOF-index are Burundi, Belize, and Sierra Leone.
Source: Wikepidia
Essential Vocabulary
1. medium n – средство, способ
2. trade liberalization – либерализация торговли
3. free trade – свободная торговля
4. «global village» – «глобальная деревня»
5. protectionism n – протекционизм
protectionist a – протекционистский
6. refugee n – беженец
7. сurrency market – валютный рынок
8. сommodity market – товарный рынок
9. сross-border transaction – международная операция
10. diffusion n – распространение
diffuse v – распространять
11. multinational company (MNC) – многонациональная компания (МНК)
12. tailor v – зд. подгонять под конкретные нужды
13. circumvention n – обман, хитрость, обход
circumvent v – обмануть, обойти, перехитрить, расстроить (планы)
14. protective tariff – протекционистский тариф
15. specie n – золотые и серебряные монеты или слитки
16. auspices n.,pl – эгида, покровительство
17. General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) – Генеральное соглашение о тарифах и торговле (ГАТТ)
18. Uruguay Round – Уругвайский раунд
19. World Trade Organization (WTO) – Всемирная торговая организация
20. Maastricht Treaty – Маастрихтский договор
21. North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) – Североамериканское соглашение о свободной торговле
22. Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) – Организация стран – экспортеров нефти (ОПЕК)
23. copyright law – закон об авторских правах
24. free-trade zone – зона свободной торговли
25. capital control – контроль движения капитала
26. bailout n – спасение, выручка
bail out v – спасать, выручать
27. life expectancy – продолжительность жизни
28. mortality n – смертность
mortal a – смертный; смертельный
29. suffrage n – право голоса, избирательное право, голос (при голосовании)
30.literacy n – грамотность
literate a – грамотный
31. think tank – «мозговой танк»
Exercise 1. Answer the following questions.
1. What does globalization mean in general? 2. What aspeсts does the economic globalization include? 3. What does globalization mean in management terms? 4. What are the key milestones in the history of globalization? 5. What economic trends are connected with globalization? 6. What initiatives contributed to the partial removal of barriers to international trade? 7. What are the arguments of the opponents to globalization? 8. What statistical data do advocates of globalization use to support their views? 9. How is globalization measured?
Exercise 2*. Find terms in the text that match definitions given below and make sentences of your own with each term.
1. international trade that is not regulated by tariffs, duties or quotas
2. zone of duty-free foreign trade within the territory of a given state
3. international organization fostering international monetary cooperation through the stabilization of exchange rates, the removal of foreign exchange restrictions and the facilitation of international payments and of international liquidity
4. a treaty signed in 1992 by the member states of the then European Community intended to inaugurate a new stage in the process of European integration
5. a company having production and other facilities in a number of countries outside the nation of origin
6. an agreement for a tariff-free area established between the USA, Canada and Mexico
7. the use of customs tariff and non-tariff policy to protect national economy or ensure unilateral competitive advantages
8. a market in which securities are bought and sold
9. organization set up in 1995 following the conclusion of the Uruguay round of trade negotiations that replaced GATT
Exercise 3. You are a journalist writing for The New York Times and you are to interview an expert from A.T. Kearney who calculated globalization indices for the U.S. and Russia. Make a dialogue between these two individuals using the following briefing materials.
The Schizophrenic United States. The world superpower became a bit more global in 2003, climbing three spots in the globalization index to the 4th position. But a quick glance at the U.S. report card reveals a hit-or-miss performance. The U.S. put up stratospheric numbers in the technology basket, ranking first in the number of Internet hosts and the number of secure servers. But the U.S. lagged far behind in categories including trade, FDI, and treaty commitments. In part, the U.S. lackluster perfomance in economic areas is due to its vibrant domestic market. Because many U.S. producers can focus exclusively on satisfying U.S. consumers, the United States is a less trade-dependent nation than small exporting countries such as Singapore and Ireland. In some ways, the U.S. economy is a world unto itself. The Bush administration often acted similarly aloof in political and diplomatic terms. Consider the United States’ skepticism of international treaty regimes. In 2003, the Bush administration continued to turn up its nose at a variety of international agreements. The White House’s opposition to the Kyoto Protocol and the International Criminal Court is well known. But the Bush administration didn’t even want to sign on to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes. The U.S. looks suspiciously at many of the new legal and institutional arrangements that are binding world together, at least on paper.
Russia Falls Behind. Russia’s globalization score tumbled eight places in this year’s index to the 52nd position. The Russian economy has become dependent on oil and gas investments, and the country’s partial transformation into a «petrostate» means that its economy is becoming vulnerable to the vicissitudes of those markets. By some accounts, the energy sector’s contribution to industrial output is about 25% of GDP and 50% of the country’s export earnings. The Kremlin’s legal assault on oil giant YUKOS and the bloody terrorist attacks by Chechen forces have deterred many foreign investors. Corruption and inefficiency are also sapping Russian economic strength. By some estimates, the black market was between 20 and 40% of the Russian economy. Privatization and deregulation, meanwhile, have stalled. Russia still has not made the reforms necessary to join the WTO, and trade as a share of Russia’s GDP fell sharply between 1999 and 2003.
Source: Measuring Globalization. A.T. Kearney/Foreign Policy Global Index, 2005
Exercise 4*. Fill in the blanks using terms given below.
Globalization
Globalization has altered the economic frameworks of both advanced and……. in ways that are difficult to fully comprehend. Nonetheless, the largely unregulated……., with some notable exceptions, appear to move smoothly from one state of equilibrium to another. Adam Smith’s………. remains at work on a global scale.
Because of………, increased innovation, and lower…….. to trade and investment……… trade in recent decades has been expanding at a far faster pace than GDP. As a result, many economies are increasingly…….. to the rigors of international competition and…….. advantage. In the process, lower prices for some goods and services produced by our……. have competitively suppressed domestic price pressures.
Production of traded goods and services has expanded rapidly in economies with large……. labor forces. Most prominent are China and India, which over the past decade have partly opened up to……… and the economies of central and eastern Europe, which were freed from…….. by the fall of the Soviet empire. The consequent significant additions to world production and trade have clearly put…….. pressure on prices in the United States and in the economies of our trading partners.
Over the past two decades…….. has fallen notably, virtually worldwide, as has economic……… Although a complete understanding of the reasons remains elusive, globalization and………. would appear to be essential elements of any paradigm capable of explaining the events of the past ten years. If this is indeed the case, because the extent of globalization and the speed of innovation are limited, the current apparent rapid pace of……… cannot continue indefinitely. The…….. for the latter part of this decade remains opaque because it is uncertain whether this……… paradigm, if that is what it is, is already far advanced and about to slow, or whether it remains in an early, still-vibrant stage of evolution.
Globalization – the extension of the……… and…….. beyond national borders – is patently a key to understanding much of our recent economic history. With a deepening of specialization and a growing capacity to conduct……… and take risks throughout the world, production has become increasingly international.
The pronounced structural shift over the past decade to a far more vigorous and competitive……… than that which existed in earlier post-World War II decades apparently has been adding significant…….. to world economic activity. This……… like that which resulted from similar structural changes in the past, is likely a…….. of the rate of increase of globalization and not its level. If so, such…….. would tend to peter out as we approach the practical limits of globalization. Full globalization, in which production, trade, and finance are driven solely by……… and in which risk is indifferent to distance and national……… will likely never be achieved.
Source: Remarks by Chairman Alan Greenspan Globalization at the Council on Foreign Relations, New York, March 10, 2005
Terms:
transactions, world economy, stimulus, borders, developing nations, central planning, inflation, division of labor, trading partners, innovation, structural shift, global markets, market forces, «invisible hand», specialization, deregulation, exposed, comparative, low wage, downward, outlook, transitional, incentive, function, risk-adjusted rates of return, volatility, impetus, barriers, cross-border
Exercise 5. Translate into English.
Глобалист: Мир закрывается
Не только в России с опаской относятся к иностранным инвесторам. Деловой мир сотрясают скандалы вокруг протекционистских действий властей разных стран мира в отношении зарубежных инвесторов. Президент Франции Жак Ширак и премьер Доминик де Вильпен выступили с призывами оградить национальные компании от поглощений иностранцами после появления слухов о намерении американской PepsiCo установить контроль над французской Danone. Председатель Центробанка Италии Антонио Фацио подозревается в содействии итальянскому Banca Popolare Italiana с целью обойти голландский ABN-Amro в стремлении купить банк Antonveneta. В начале этого года международные инвесторы ополчились на власти Южной Кореи, развернувшие кампанию по ужесточению правил деятельности для иностранных инвесторов. И даже – подумать только! – власти США, как считается, оказали сопротивление попыткам китайской CNOOC купить американскую нефтегазовую компанию Unocal.
Если экономический национализм действительно развивается, то это был бы отличный козырь для российских властей, стремящихся ввести особый режим для иностранных инвестиций в «стратегических сферах». Дескать, все так делают, а чем мы хуже?
Международный рынок прямых трансграничных инвестиций в последние годы сжимался. В 2003 г. объем трансграничных слияний и поглощений, по данным ЮНКТАД, упал с рекордных $866 млрд в 2000 г. до $141 млрд, а в целом объем прямых иностранных инвестиций в глобальной экономике снизился с $1,4 трлн в 2000 г. до $560 млрд. Однако это объяснялось скорее замедлением темпов роста, а также окончанием активной фазы приватизации в странах с переходной экономикой, которая была существенной причиной трансграничного перетока капитала в прежние годы.
Теперь глобальный инвестиционный процесс получил новое мощное препятствие для развития в виде экономического национализма властей. Только несостоявшиеся сделки ABN Amro – Antonveneta и CNOOC – Unocal потянули бы в совокупности на десятки миллиардов. Прямым следствием «инвестиционного протекционизма» российских властей в течение последних лет стали сорвавшиеся сделки в объеме почти $20 млрд (CNPC – «Славнефть», ExxonMobil – «ЮКОС-Сибнефть», Total – «НОВАТЭК», Siemens – «Силовые машины»).
ВТО демонстрирует свою неспособность вмешаться в этот процесс – соглашение по связанным с торговлей инвестиционным мерам регулирует лишь возможности стран навязывать иностранным инвесторам определенные ограничения торгового характера.
Подчеркнутые заботы о преимущественных правах национальных инвесторов часто мотивируются геополитическими факторами, и не без причины. Китайские нефтегазовые госкомпании являются явными носителями геополитических амбиций руководства КНР. В Восточной Европе многим кажется, что в такой роли выступают российские компании. Но настоящая причина все-таки в другом. Национальными инвесторами удобнее рулить – обращаться к ним от имени власти с просьбами, пользоваться благами «дружбы» с крупными национальными бизнесменами (то яхту подарят, то свадьбу дочери оплатят). А с международным бизнесом все это значительно сложнее: общение приходится вести в четких правовых рамках. Для России именно такие мотивации очень актуальны. И, видимо, не только для России. Тем хуже для перспектив роста глобальной экономики.
Источник: Владимир Милов,
президент Института энергетической политики,
Ведомости, 25.08.05
Lesson 25
Multinational Companies
Read and translate the texts and learn terms from the Essential Vocabulary.
Are You Ready to Go Global?
Once you understand how global your industry is, you need to define globalization’s full potential for your company. Although every company is different, most are affected by the same internal and external forces. The challenge is to figure out how these forces will strengthen or weaken over time – and how to capitalize on that evolution. Three types of factors determine the course of globalization in a company: production, regulatory, and organizational.
Production. There are two factors that determine an industry’s potential for disaggregating its value chain: relocationsensitivity and location-specific advantages.
To figure out your relocation sensitivity, consider metrics such as your typical bulk-to-value ratios, the ease with which your company can ensure quality standards remotely, the volatility of the demand for your service, and any sunk costs. Industries that make items that are hard to transport, such as steel or timber, may have little incentive to move their production processes. Companies that have already made huge capital investments in developed countries may not be able to justify shutting down factories even if the variable costs in developing countries are much lower.
To determine your location-specific advantages, look at variables including labor intensity, skill requirements, natural-resources intensity, and economies of scale and scope. Labor-intensive industries, such as apparel, have a greater incentive to move production to lower-wage countries. The exception would be a business whose workforce must possess specific skills that are not available outside a few countries. Industries that rely heavily on natural resources, such as the furniture sector, may find it advantageous to move to countries where those resources are plentiful and less expensive. Industries in which components are standardized, like consumer electronics, can take advantage of economies of scale in the production of individual components.
Regulatory. Host countries’ regulations can inhibit globalization in several ways. A country can impose tariffs, set import and export quotas, require foreign companies to enter into JVs with local companies, specify minimum local content, ban foreign investment outright, or fail to invest in regulatory infrastructures. Indeed, regulatory factors – particularly countries’ efforts to restrict imports or FDI – are among the biggest constraints to globalization in many industries today.
Organizational. Three organizational factors can limit globalization for a company or an industry: internal management structures, incentive systems, and unionization. For example, offshoring in many U.S. companies has been slowed by midlevel managers’ reluctance to give up some responsibility for the migrated positions. Companies must realign management incentives with global, not local, performance metrics, while still allowing for local innovation and risk taking.
Production, regulatory, and organizational forces evolve over time, and the full potential of globalization for companies and industries changes with the geopolitical and macroeconomic environment. The development of GATT and WTO has enabled rapid growth in global trade for most manufacturing products and, more recently, for services. The decline in cargo costs due to standardization of containers and more efficient transport service has encouraged more companies to ship bulky products globally. GPS technology has allowed some companies to closely monitor their road freight and achieve better logistics control, enabling them to disaggregate their value chains. And the improved quality and radically reduced costs of international telecommunications have created the offshoring opportunities.
Escalating competition, steady trade liberalization, and the continual introduction of new technologies will increase the pressure on companies to globalize. Businesses that view the status quo as fixed and neglect to capitalize on emerging global opportunities will be blindsided; those that find ways around the obstacles and prepare for the next stages in their industries will win out. IKEA has pushed the envelope by creating a new business around low transportation costs. The modular design of its furniture (customer assembly is required for nearly all items) means IKEA can transport its goods worldwide much more cost-effectively than traditional furniture manufacturers can.
Standardization is a critical part of globalization in many industries, but it has been resisted by some. Standards can penetrate an industry in two ways – companies can voluntarily adopt them, or governments can impose them. Consumer electronics was transformed when a critical mass of companies voluntarily embraced standards. By contrast, it’s been hard for manufacturers in the wireless handset business to achieve global economies of scale: Europe mandated the GSM standard, while Japan chose the PDC standard.
Source: Diana Farrel, «Beyond Offshoring:
Assess Your Company’s Global Potential»,
Harvard Business Review,
Vol. 82, No.12, December 2004 (excerpt)
Automotive MNCs in Russia
FDI in Russia by the automotive companies requires both the right business opportunities and economic conditions. Some of the right conditions required to attract FDI can be best expressed by the following formula:
FDIt = f (GRP(t-1), Wage(t-1), Education(t-1), Paved Roads(t-1), Openness to trade(t-1), Investment rating(t-1), Crime(t-1), Voter Participation(t-1))
MNCs need to weigh the risks of making substantial FDI versus the potential business returns. Hence, a country’s economic policies, political stability, legal system, infrastructure, and human resources all factor into the decision of if, when, and how an MNC should engage in FDI. Since opening its borders to foreign investment, Russia attracted FDI at a growing pace until its financial crisis in 1998. Inflows of FDI did not recover until mid 2002, at which point Russia’s FDI exceeded $20 billion, indicating foreign MNCs regained confidence in investing in Russia.
Initially, FDI in Russia had been focused on accessing natural resources; more recently investments are focused on both accessing new markets and seeking efficiencies through employing low-cost highly educated workers. FDI focused on developing new markets for products in Russia is limited by the growth of the economy and the low purchasing power of the Russian population. Efficiency-seeking FDI will be limited more by the availability of low-cost educated workers, supply chain capability, and infrastructure robustness.
Ford’s approach
Ford initially announced plans in 1997 to establish car production in Russia. A lengthy negotiation period and the 1998 financial crisis put Ford’s plans on hold until the opening of its St. Petersburg assembly plant in 2002. The St. Petersburg plant was to be wholly owned, a first for a foreign company in Russia. A key advantage of being wholly owned is having complete management control over all aspects of the assembly plants operation. Investing in state-of-the-art facilities, and hiring new workers permit Ford to more easily overcome quality and productivity issues that have been notoriously bad in Russian state-run companies.
Not having a local partner also helps Ford locate its facilities close to the market, rather than wherever the JV partner’s facilities are located. Locating the production facility in St. Petersburg was very important to Ford as 60% of the car market in Russia is currently in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Complete ownership also allows Ford more flexibility in deciding product mix and pricing. By not licensing to a local manufacture, Ford reduces the potential of creating future local competitors caused by technology transfer, and Ford can more effectively create brand awareness. Ford’s FDI in Russia is predominantly considered horizontal FDI because its production of vehicles targets the growing domestic market.
General Motor’s approach
GM had chosen to form a JV with the largest domestic car manufacturer in Russia: AvtoVAZ. Through it, GM gained access to the partner’s production facilities, supply chain, and sales network. Russia’s domestic car makers typically manufacture up to 80% of the components (versus 40% for European manufactures). Partnering with such a company could reduce time to market for new products.
GM will also be able to take advantage of their partner’s relationships with the government. Russia’s numerous government agencies are recognized for their ability to create endless red tape and demand kickbacks. A local partner could prove beneficial in overcoming bureaucratic hurdles. GM’s JV partner, however, also brings with it liabilities such as, until recently, being the largest single debtor to the state due to unpaid taxes. Also, AvtoVAZ had been the subject of an aggressive income tax evasion case by Russian tax authorities in 2000.
GM’s strategy is focused on exporting its vehicles manufactured in Russia; therefore, GM’s FDI can be considered vertical FDI. GM, like Ford, is interested in participating in Russia’s growing domestic car market and does sell a small amount of its production locally. GM, unlike Ford, attempts to both grow its market share within Russia and gain efficiencies via lower labor costs for its exports to other markets.
Summary and conclusions
The OLI theory suggests that when companies leverage Ownership specific advantages (O), Location advantages (L), and Internalization advantages (I) together they gain an advantage from FDI. Both Ford and GM, through whole ownership or JV partnerships, utilize their technology, process, and management capabilities to create a competitive advantage over domestic companies. Such MNCs still have to operate and compete within a business environment having market imperfections, caused in part, by the government’s attitude towards FDI. Many members of the Duma view FDI as an attempt by MNCs to rob Russia of its riches by transferring the wealth abroad.
Political mistrust causes delays in making legislative changes to both the legal and financial system considered necessary to make the market more efficient and attractive for FDI. Political concerns had a direct bearing on GM’s JV with AvtoVAZ, as the government had decided against the sales of shares of AvtoVAZ to a single outside investor. Hence, GM’s JV with AvtoVAZ is restricted to a 41.5% ownership stake, while AvtoVAZ is free to form additional partnerships with other automotive companies such as Korea’s Daewoo. In spite of market inefficiencies caused by inadequate infrastructure, a poorly functioning legal system, a criminalized business environment, and awesome bureaucracy, both Ford and GM view the business rewards for FDI outweighing the risks. While Russia continues to offer great potential for FDI, its internal market imperfections could be a key reason why it was able to only attract an estimated FDI inflow of $5.2 billion out of the global $653 billion FDI flows into major economies in 2003.
Source: J. Stodder, Rensselaer at Hartford, Spring 2005
Essential Vocabulary
1. relocation n – перемещение, передислокация (рабочей силы или производства)
relocate v – перемещать, передислоцировать
2. bulk-to-value ratio – отношение массы груза к его ценности
3. sunk costs – понесенные расходы, расходы прошлых периодов
4. variable costs – переменные затраты
5. labor intensity – трудоемкость
labor intensive – трудоемкий
6. natural-resources intensity – ресурсоемкость
natural-resources intensive – ресурсоемкий
7. consumer electronics – бытовые электронные приборы
8. economies of scope – экономия на масштабах маркетинга и сбыта
9. apparel industry – производство одежды
10. import quota – импортная квота
11. local content – использование местной рабочей силы и оборудования
12. midlevel manager – менеджер среднего звена
13. offshoring n – офшорная деятельность
offshore n – офшор
offshore a – офшорный
14. cargo n – груз
15. cost effective a – эффективный по издержкам
16. automotive company – автомобилестроительная компания
17. factor in(to) v – встраивать, учитывать
18. purchasing power – покупательная способность
19. state-of-the-art – самый современный на настоящий момент
20.licensing n – лицензирование
license n – лицензия
licensor n – лицензиар
licensee n – лицензиат
license v – разрешать, давать разрешение, выдавать лицензию
21. technology transfer – передача технологии
22. horizontal FDI – горизонтальные прямые иностранные инвестиции
23. red tape – бюрократизм
24. kickback n – «откат»
25. tax evasion – уклонение от уплаты налогов незаконными методами
26. vertical FDI – вертикальные прямые иностранные инвестиции
Exercise 1. Answer the following questions.
1. What are the determinants of the course of globalization in an industry or a company? 2. What production aspects determine an industry’s potential to globalize? 3. How can a host country’s regulations inhibit globalization? 4. What are the organizational constraints of globalization for a company or an industry? 5. What are the right conditions required to attract FDI? 6. What was the initial focus of MNCs in Russia? 7. What was Ford’s approach to doing business in Russia? 8. How did GM establish its presence in Russia? 9. What is the essence of the OLI theory?
Exercise 2. Explain the meaning of the following terms: «labor intensive», «energy intensive», «capital intensive», «knowledge intensive» and «natural resource intensive». Make sentences of your own with each term.
Exercise 3*. Find terms in the text that match definitions given below and make sentences of your own with each term.
1. efficiencies associated with increasing or decreasing the scale of production
2. efficiencies associated with increasing or decreasing the scope of marketing and distribution
3. a company that manages production establishments located in different countries to produce same or similar products
4. the return of a portion of a commission or payment in accordance with a secret agreement
5. formal permission or authorization to do or forbear some act; a certificate of such permission
6. a corporation that manages production establishments located in at least two countries
7. of international commodity agreements, quantities of the commodity under consideration that contracting countries undertake to import, or quantities that exporting contracting countries undertake not to exceed
8. rigid or excessive routines and procedures causing delay or inaction, as in a bureaucracy
9. a company that manages production establishment in certain country/countries to produce products that serve as input to its production establishments in other country/ countries
Exercise 4. Describe pros and cons of MNCs’ activities in Russian economy using the words funding, investments, technology transfer, know-how, best practices, national sovereignty, relocation, corporate governance, labor costs, competitiveness, employment, wages and salaries, local content, education, fiscal discipline, corruption, environment protection, labor intensive, polluting enterprises, living standards, natural resources, transfer pricing, lobbying, multiplier effect, etc.
Exercise 5*. Fill in the blanks using terms given below.
Multinationals Say Russia Needs a Makeover
Russia needs to take better care of its i abroad if it wants to compete for foreign investment with other……… like China and India, senior executives from leading……. said Monday.
The government should figure out how to bring its often negative i into line with the more positive reality of…….. in Russia, said a number of members of the Foreign Investment Advisory Committee.
FIAC is a forum that for the past decade has been bringing together…….. with the leaders of 25 large, long-standing investors, including BP, Nestle, ExxonMobil and Deutsche Bank.
«Other regions of the world, China especially, have become favored destinations for investment,» said Jim Turley, chairman of Ernst & Young Global, who…….FIAC with Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov.
Last year, Russia received a mere $6.8 billion in………, compared to China’s $53.5 billion, according to Renaissance Capital.
FIAC also made some more expected recommendations, calling on the government to continue………., bring stability to the……… and improve tax and accounting practices.
Participants singled out the need for Russia to clamp down on excessive……. if it wants to compete for investment.
But for the first time in its 10-year history, FIAC created a special……. dedicated to…… Russia’s i.
«Russia needs to put forward its own…… better,» said Ralph Kugler, president of Unilever.
Countries like China and India «might have lower…….,» Kugler said. «Russia, on the other hand, might have a higher standard of……..»
«There was a general…….. between the foreign investors and the government about the fact that the perception of Russia didn’t align with the reality of the…….. in Russia – and that that perception needed to be moved,» said Grant Winterton, Coca-Cola’s general manager for Russia.
The final communique also recommended that the government complete a plan to spread…….. among foreign investors that political and economic risk is dropping.
Not all the…… gathered in the President Hotel agreed that a government-run…… offensive is what Russia needs, however.
«So many…… are missed because of the wrong perception from abroad,» said Michel Perhirin, chairman of the board at Raiffeisenbank. But, he added, «I don’t believe a media…… could be extremely effective.»
A few FIAC members suggested that the country’s i is not the key to…… investment.
John Barry, president of Shell in Russia said Shell is pushing government regulators to implement….. reforms that will help facilitate…… oil drilling farther afield from cheaper, more accessible……..
Other participants said that the government has indeed been improving its dialogue with the foreign business……
«Particularly these last few years, under President (Vladimir) Putin, we’ve had superior…… from government at (FIAC) meetings,» said senior vice president of United Technologies Corp., Ruth Harkin.
Established in 1994 as a….. for foreign investors and government officials to share investment concerns, FIAC has had a big…… in pushing a number of reforms.
Recently, FIAC members helped the government rework the….. Code and corporate taxation.
FIAC meets annually to discuss pending…… and its effect on foreign investment.
Source: Moscow Times, September 28, 2004 (abridged)
Terms:
FDI, opportunities, representation, media, Customs, legislation, developing countries, red tape, awareness, community, consensus, education, multinationals, impact, doing business, venue, government officials, co-chairs, tax, administrative reform, banking system, locations, boosting, strengths, labor costs, investment climate, executives, campaign, attracting, capital intensive, working group
Exercise 6. Translate into English.
Ценности капитализма: Приоритет национального бизнеса
Дискуссия о соотношении местного и иностранного капитала в российской экономике в последнее время приобрела новое звучание как в коридорах власти, так и в широкой аудитории. Стремление создать мощные национальные компании и уважаемую бизнес-элиту закономерно и понятно. Но очень часто именно иностранцы привносят в российскую практику высокие стандарты качества продукции и социальной ответственности, включая выплату достойных зарплат сотрудникам и соблюдение жестких экологических стандартов. Либерализации процесса привлечения иностранных инвестиций будет способствовать и скорое вступление России в ВТО, а также новое законодательство о концессиях. Показательно, что, например, Германия практически не имеет ограничений для зарубежных инвестиций, за исключением определенного рода вложений в финансовый сектор.
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