< PreviousNORTHAMERICAELECTRONICSTop Cities 1 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI, USA 2 New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA, USA 3 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, USA 4 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, USA 5 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA, USA Company Metro Area Country Inv. US $Million JobsFoxconn Technology Co., Ltd. Racine, WI United States 10,000 13,000Coastal Power Systems Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX United States 900 Soraa Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY United States 750 375Sensaras, LLC New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA United States 450 31Samsung Electronics America, Inc. Newberry, SC United States 380 950Selected Corporate Facilities Investments, 2015-2017A total of 19 new semiconductor fab projects are expected to begin construction in 2019 and 2020. They include Micron’s plans to invest $3 billion and create 1,100 jobs by 2030 in Manassas, Virginia, and Texas Instruments’ plans to invest $3.2B in new fab construction that would create as many as 625 new jobs in Richardson, Texas. 48 2018 W O R L D ’ S M O S T C O M P E T I T I V E C I T I E SELECTRONICSLATIN AMERICA & CARIBBEANCompanyMetro AreaCountryInv. US $MillionJobsElectrolux Curitiba Brazil 114 800Sohnen De Mexico, S. De R.L. De C.V. Tijuana Mexico 65 Schneider Electric México, S.A. De C.V. Monterrey Mexico 45 700Flextronics International Ltd. Guadalajara Mexico 40 Turck Comercial, S. De R.L. De C.V. El Salto Mexico 30 1,300Selected Corporate Facilities Investments, 2015-2017Top Cities1 Tijuana, Mexico2 São Paulo Metro Area, Brazil2 Saltillo, Mexico 2 Queretaro Metro Area, Mexicoemploying more than 77,000, including a strong specialty in high-tech TV and screen technologies.Over 40 years the Mexican state of Baja California has accumulated more than 170 electronics company operations,More than 83,000 students are enrolled in its more than 35 public and private universities,including the Instituto Tecnológico de Tijuana, CETYS University and UABC State University of Baja California.2018 W O R L D ’ S M O S T C O M P E T I T I V E C I T I E S 49ELECTRONICSAFRICA & MIDDLE EASTCompany Metro Area Country Inv. US $Million JobsAvic International Nairobi Kenya 200 Siemens Ag Tangiers Morocco 109 675Industrial Systems Group Dammam Saudi Arabia 53 Afrizam Electrical Equipment Ltd. Lusaka Zambia 15 El Sewedy Electrometer Egypt Harare Zimbabwe 15 Selected Corporate Facilities Investments, 2015-2017Top Cities 1 Harare Metro Area, Zimbabwe 2 Tenth of Ramadan City, Egypt 2 Tunis Metro Area, TunisiaConsumer electronics revenue in Africa & the Middle East of $4.4B in 2018 is projected to show annual growth of 7.5% through 2022, resulting in market volume of more than $5.9B. SOURCE: STATISTA50 2018 W O R L D ’ S M O S T C O M P E T I T I V E C I T I E SENERG Yutside of legendary energy-driven locations such as Dubai and Hous-ton — two of our eight No. 1s in this year’s rankings by world region — cities and the energy business don’t seem to go hand in hand. But they do in the important categories of R&D and headquarters. ese are the places where the thinking, the strategizing and some degree of experimentation happen. Cities also are often test beds for pilot programs aimed at transitioning regions toward renewables.Such is the case in Berlin and Munich (our No. 1 and No. 2 cities in Western Europe), part of a national shift toward electric vehicle use and solar power. But Oxford Economics’ Dan Levine warns, “Germany is poised to experience a sharp rise in electric vehicles, and this has caused some industry experts to warn the country’s electric utility network might have diffi culty coping. Specifi cally, some Ger-man cities seem close to implementing driving bans on older diesel vehicles and at the same time major companies such as Daimler plan to off er e-versions of all its models by 2023. e concern is that in cities such as Munich, Berlin, and Frankfurt, local utility networks will not be able to cope with surges in peak demand caused by recharging vehicles.” e shift to renewables is exemplifi ed by China. Oxford’s report " e Clean Energy Revolution: Believe the Hype," projects that China will account for 40 percent (363 gigawatts) of global renewables capacity growth from 2017 through 2022. is may explain why four Chinese cities (led by Suzhou in a tie for fi rst with Seoul) are among the cities in our top fi ve in the Asia Pacifi c (where 10 cities rank because of ties). In some areas, the same companies who dom-inate the world’s oil & gas activity are taking the lead in renewables investment. Such is the case in Brazil (where our top three Latin America cities are located), as big multinationals such as Total and Shell invest in renewables in the same country where biofuel innovation is about a generation ahead of the rest of the world.At the same time, oil & gas continues to be the prow of the ship when it comes to corporate invest-ment and job creation — sometimes literally, as the liquefaction and tanker shipping of liquefi ed natural gas (LNG) is part of a worldwide shift from coal.“U.S. coal production is expected to decline this year in response to falling global demand,” notes Dan Levine. “China is a key part of that story as it tries to cut excess production and address air pollu-tion. Moreover, in the U.S., natural gas has for the fi rst time overtaken coal as the largest energy source for power generation.”A recent World Economic Forum report notes that multiple new resources in spots around the world are shaking things up:“Unconventional and frontier resources, like shale gas and tight oil (light crude oil) in the U.S., oil sands in Canada, extra heavy oils in Venezuela, deep water resources in Brazil, and the opening of energy markets in Mexico and elsewhere to international in-vestment, have upended concerns about an impend-ing peak in energy supply,” says the WEF. “ ese new sources will increasingly compete for market share with incumbent suppliers, like the Russian Federation and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).“ is, coupled with growing demand in Asia, promises to transform global oil and gas trade and energy geopolitics.” 2018 W O R L D ’ S M O S T C O M P E T I T I V E C I T I E S 51ENERGYCompanyMetro AreaCountryInv. US $MillionJobsState Oil Co. Of Azerbaijan Aliaga Turkey 5,700 Tupras Izmit Turkey 3,000 500Anan Group (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. Yakutsk Russia 1,400 Lager D.O.O. Posusje Sanski Most Bosnia and Herzegovina 636 Ina, D.D. Rijeka Croatia 437 Selected Corporate Facilities Investments, 2015-2017Top Cities 1 Budapest Metro Area, Hungary 2 Moscow Metro Area, Russia 2 Mielec, Poland 4 Skopje, Macedonia 4 Presov, SlovakiaEASTERN EUROPE & CENTRAL ASIAFrom 1/13 to 8/18, Russia produced more than 3B metric tons of crude oil, growing its output by more than 7.3% in that span. Meanwhile, LNG beckons: In August 2018, Russia’s Novatek launched the second liquefaction line at the $27B Yamal LNG complex it co-owns with France’s Total, China National Petroleum Corporation and Chinese Silk Road Fund.52 2018 W O R L D ’ S M O S T C O M P E T I T I V E C I T I E SENERGYCompany Metro Area Country Inv. US $Million JobsExxon Mobil Corp. Antwerp Belgium 1,000 Exxon Mobil Corp. Rotterdam The Hague Netherlands 1,000 GE Oil & Gas UK Ltd. Florence Italy 600 Infineon Technologies AG Villach Austria 290 200Atlantikfuror Unipessoal Lda. Sines Portugal 276 Selected Corporate Facilities Investments, 2015-2017Top Cities 1 Berlin/Brandenburg Metro Area, Germany 2 Munich, Germany 3 Birmingham (West Midlands Metro Area), UK 4 Liverpool City Region, UK 5 Rotterdam The Hague Metro Area, NetherlandsWESTERN EUROPEGermany aims to cut CO2 emissions by 80% and increase the share of renewable energy to 60% by 2050. Germany is home to Europe’s biggest wind energy market, and saw 1,250 MW of new o shore turbines go online in 2017, served by a number of o shore-oriented ports. 2018 W O R L D ’ S M O S T C O M P E T I T I V E C I T I E S 53Top Cities 1 Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX, USA 2 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, USA 3 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI, USA 4 San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX, USA 5 Columbus, OH, USACompanyMetro AreaCountryInv. US $MillionJobsKitsault Energy Ltd. Of Canada Kitsault, BC Canada 34,000 Steelhead Lng Corp. Port Alberni, BC Canada 30,000 LNG Canada Kitimat, BC Canada 25,000 WCC LNG Holdings Ltd. Prince Rupert, BC Canada 25,000 Teck Coal Ltd. Wood Buffalo, AB Canada 20,000 Selected Corporate Facilities Investments, 2015-2017ENERGYNORTH AMERICATexas is No. 1 in the United States in total energy, biodiesel, crude oil, natural gas and electricity production; No. 1 in wind energy capacity and solar potential; No. 2 in renewable energy employment; and No. 4 in clean-energy-related patents.54 2018 W O R L D ’ S M O S T C O M P E T I T I V E C I T I E SUSAPHOTO: GETTY IMAGESSECTOR LEADER IN:ouston remains an attractive loca-tion for new investment, capital-izing on industry diversifi cation to lead its growth following recent downturns in the oil and gas industries. Houston added 10,000 manufacturing jobs between April 2017 and April 2018, representing 4.6-percent growth, compared to 2-percent growth nationally. is growth has been fueled by strong investment in advanced materials manufacturing, building on the area's deep roots as a chemicals hub. As of 2016, Houston had 535 chemical manufacturing and 223 plastic manufacturing facilities, and more than $50 billion in petrochemical projects announced or underway. Two such megaprojects include Dow’s $4-billion ethylene and plastics plant and LyondellBasel’s $2.4-billion propylene oxide and tertiary butyl alcohol plant. Houston has seen signifi cant growth in its health care research sector, topping U.S. cities for funding from the National Institutes of Health with $610.1 million in 2016 for more than 1,300 projects. Biotech incubators TMCx and JLABS have provided a network for accelerated research and commercialization, contributing to an increasing concentration of biotech companies. Two recent examples of large-scale development include TexPharma’s $21-million, 500-job headquarters and a $3.8-million expansion of Neogenomics’ research facility. e Texas Medical Center, the world’s largest medical complex, leverages the area's skilled labor and emerging medical innovation through partnerships with more than 190 life sciences companies. Houston’s energy sector is seeing recovery following a sharp downturn that started in mid-2014. is contributed to the Houston area unemployment rate rising above the national average for the fi rst time since 2006, peaking at 5.8 percent in September 2016. By April 2018, Houston's average unemployment rate had fallen to 4.2 percent, still above the U.S. average of 3.7 percent, and among the highest rates for the 50 largest U.S. metro areas. In this case, a slightly higher unemployment rate might be attractive, indicating availability of workers. Employment rose in almost every sector during 2017, with the exception of the information sector.Finally, Houston is experiencing a construction boom in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. Data suggest Houston lost 1,800 construction jobs from August 2017 to September 2017. rough Q1 2018, Houston had gained more than 20,000 jobs, growth of 9.7 percent compared to -0.6 percent nationally.HOUSTON, TXLyndsie LowryEY Indirect Tax - Business Incentives & Credits Katie Ballard-Bloomfi eldEY Quantitative Economics and Statistics 29.7602° N95.3698° Welev. 80 ft.CSTUTC-63rd2nd1st3rd4th 2018 W O R L D ’ S M O S T C O M P E T I T I V E C I T I E S 55“The bold reform of South Korea’s energy industry by the Moon Jae-In administration has become a priority for President Mo on, who is determined to make sure the radical swing from coal and nuclear towards renewables and LNG for power generation is achieved, said a report from the University of Oxford’s Oxford Institute for Energy Studies in June 2018.Top Cities 1 Seoul Metro Area, South Korea 1 Suzhou Metro Area, China 3 Suining, China 4 Bengaluru Metro Area, India 5 Eastern Seaboard Region, Thailand 5 Singapore, Singapore 5 Kaohsiung, Taiwan 5 Chennai Metro Area, India 5 Chengdu, China 5 Wuxi Metro Area, ChinaCompany Metro Area Country Inv. US $Million JobsTsinghua Unigroup Ltd. Wuhan China 24,000 PTT/Aramco Quy Nhon Vietnam 22,000 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. Tainan Taiwan 20,000 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Seoul South Korea 13,448 SK Hynix Inc. Seoul South Korea 12,683 Selected Corporate Facilities Investments, 2015-2017ENERGYASIA PACIFIC56 2018 W O R L D ’ S M O S T C O M P E T I T I V E C I T I E SWORLD-CLASS EVENT!JOIN US FOR THIS JOIN US FOR THIS JOIN US FOR THIS JOIN US FOR THIS JOIN US FOR THIS The International FDI Summit is the fi rst Chinese inbound/outbound FDI event that Huzhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce has had. We anticipate hosting this event at the Sheraton Huzhou Hot Springs Resort (pending site visit).PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE TO REGISTER TODAY!internationalfdisummit.comOCTOBER 28-30, 2019JOIN US FOR THISWORLD-CLASS EVENT!Next >