"Lets go digital" was published in World Finance Magazine in the Sept 2010 Edition.

1. Technology
Lets get digital
Global Arena offers businesses, countries and cities throughout
the world the chance to meet and form strategic, long lasting investment bonds.
Jane Bordenave talks to the company’s founder and CEO Peter Storm
FDI can present companies with great opportunities, but can also danger of missing a competitor entering a market you had not consid-
bring risks. While a location may seem popular or have potential, it is ered and creating a competitive advantage over your business. There
difficult for a firm to acquire all the knowledge necessary to make their is also the problem of not knowing about risk in terms of trends and
investment a success. Lack of expertise or insufficient resources to carry forecasting – where is the market likely to be in three to five years time?
out a full scale assessment of the area can lead to missed opportunities Will it still be possible to successfully do business there?” When trying
and failed ventures. However, there is a service that helps companies to to answer these questions, there are various obstacles standing in the
find a location that matches their needs and provides an opportunity way; companies rarely have the data, manpower and financial means
for growth. Founded in 2008, Global Arena provides business locations to take a holistic view of the market as it stands now, how it is likely
and potential investors an online platform where they can find each to evolve and how compatible it is with the business. The bits of data
other and offers all the information necessary for making an informed available may also be unwieldy and unintegrated, and in an attempt to
and strategic decision. overcome these problems, a dependency on consultants may develop,
The company is the brainchild of Peter Storm, who developed a sci- which is often expensive and can be inadequate.
entific model for determining good location for FDI while working for It was these factors that pushed HP to move Storm from its consul-
HP, “there are many issues confronting an executive management team tancy department into helping to choose successful locations for invest-
when they look at their location footprint,” he says, “firstly there is the ment in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. “Site selection in these
130
World Finance | Sep - Oct 2010

2. areas is a significantly more complex process to what the company was this in mind, FDI in non-traditional countries, ie not China or India, is
used to in the Americas,” explains Storm, “the firm had experienced increasingly appealing to companies, and increasingly important.
some disappointing project outcomes previously here, so moved respon-
sibility for investment in these markets to the European HQ in Zurich.” search versus create talent
HP worked with the University of Ghent in Belgium to develop an al- However, increasingly companies are looking not for an existing talent
gorithm that would determine the international allocation of workforce pool, but for an environment where they can create a fully integrated
and capital. This system analysed external factors, such as economic, talent ecosystem, “I recently spoke to both Nokia and General Electric
geopolitical stability and at a conference event, and both told me that
market forces in a coun- AlmOSt All WEStErn the potential to create a sustainable supply of
try, and combined them talent for their companies was what they are
with internal data to pro- ECOnOmiES ArE looking for when choosing a business loca-
vide the company with tion,” says Storm. In order to do this, busi-
a clear picture of where StruGGlinG With nesses are at first bringing in some of their
was best to invest. own skilled and experienced workers while
The algorithm was dEmOGrAPhiCS. thE they train up local people through on the job
very successful, and soon skills acquisition and post-graduate develop-
attracted the attention of SituAtiOn iS Only ment programmes for students in the area,
other technology compa- “this is one of two major shifts in attitude,
nies. However, as good as GOinG tO GEt WOrSE the other being the importance of Corporate
the system was, it didn’t and Social Responsibility. Right up to the
complement the HP prod- millennium the top and indeed only factor
uct portfolio, so in 2008 Storm arranged with HP to take the intellec- for consideration when looking at where to invest was cost. Now there
tual property with him to form a new company, Global Arena. are other factors that top that.”
CSR and Green – sustainable business are of increasing importance
globalisation to all companies. When looking for a strategic matching for FDI, com-
“Our vision is to create a marketplace that helps to increase the com- panies want to engage in business in a way that will communicate the
petitiveness of countries, economies and locations, but that also helps sustainability and responsibility values they want their brands associated
to increase the transparency of the foreign direct investment market,” with, “Currently, we only have social and political sustainability as a
says Storm, “at the same time, we also wanted to create a platform that criteria on our website in this area, but as there is such increased interest
would help encourage fairness in globalisation, giving undeveloped and in this area, we are looking to expand it,” says Storm, “we are looking
developing countries the chance to get as much positive exposure as to include many other factors such as the target country’s performance of
possible.” One of the ways that the company is helping to ensure it ful- things such as carbon emissions and the work/life balance of the people
fils this aim is to start working with the United Nations Conference on – things that are increasingly important to companies and to talent.”
Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to create a free platform for these Another change that Global Arena is seeing is in terms of what compa-
states to promote themselves and integrate into the global economy. nies are seeking to achieve once they have established a presence in a new
One of the things that Storm considers of utmost importance for FDI market, “previously large multinationals would look at these countries
and for his own business is the internet, “we are a web-based compa- as an opportunity to establish their existing products in new markets.
ny ourselves, and we work like some of the best online entities such as What we see now is that they are looking to develop new products that
Google or eBay, in that we use intelligent matching technology to find are tailored to these markets,” explains Storm, “businesses are adapting
the answers to a customer’s search criteria,” says Storm, “globalisation themselves to local customs and, importantly, local buying power. It is a
has caused an explosion of opportunities, which are available not just to model that Nestlé and Phillips have been using very successfully for some
large multinationals but also to SMEs. However these opportunities need time now, but that others are seeking to follow.”
refining, we don’t want to be like some giant virtual yellow pages, mak-
ing businesses flip through thousands of irrelevant entries to find the one identifying solutions
they want. We want to deliver optimal solutions directly and efficiently.” So what does Storm consider to be the most important factors today
The company’s database currently holds 500 locations over 40 countries, for successful foreign direct investment, and how can Global-Arena.
but is engaged with Credit Suisse to rapidly accelerate growth to one com help companies to achieve this? “In the past, companies would ap-
hundred times the number of resource allocation opportunities. proach a government agency, buy some land or a building and set up a
call centre or production facility, but for the most successful companies
africa holds opportunity this is not the case. FDI strategies need to be focussed around foster-
According to Storm, Africa holds strong opportunities for attractive ing an environment of entrepreneurship, innovation and supporting
markets and talent supply, although investment there isn’t entirely knowledge transfer amongst young talented people. For example, many
straightforward either. The skills shortage that is present even in coun- biotech, nanotech and other high tech industries are following small
tries that are higher up the development scale, such as South Africa, can companies in the area they are intending to invest in. They snap up the
present a problem. ones that are producing unique products and patents, integrating them
into their own portfolio and creating a presence in the country at the
the future of FDI is about talent same time. Such an approach, as well as being good for the business,
While companies’ FDI drives may have slowed or stopped during the acts as a catalyst for development and strengthening the local economy.
recession, Storm is convinced that as the world begins to pull out of At Global-Arena.com we can help companies identify the best area for
this crisis talent will become the major determining factor as to where them without their first having to establish a pied-à-terre there to see if
companies choose to invest. However, talent supply can be a problem for it is suitable. Our online presence means our total capabilities are avail-
companies, even in their home countries, “almost all Western economies able to anyone anywhere, bringing locations and businesses together.”
are struggling with demographics. The population is aging as people live Global Arena is a company that enables all parties to maximise the
longer and fewer children are born and the situation as it stands is only benefits of globalisation through the internet. It helps businesses to
going to get worse over the next ten to twenty years,” explains Storm, navigate the global business location marketplace, avoiding the pitfalls
“Businesses are increasingly having to import their top talent from the that can hinder or completely put paid to ventures abroad. It is an
global arena. Even China will begin to have this problem over the same invaluable tool and one that, like FDI itself, is only bound to grow in
time period due to the one child policy and its rate of growth.” With importance and prosperity.
131
World Finance | Sep - Oct 2010