Academic-Capital

In today’s world, international business is a mainstay of everyday commerce and policy.   Products move across the globe and make their way into homes and lives of individuals and families at different places on the planet. Most statistics include the hard goods and services that traverse across borders but may be missing other tangible value. Dr. Predrag Bjelić discusses the inclusion of direct foreign investment and labor flow as important components of economic calculations.  Even though 2006 IMF data indicated that 75% of international trade is measured in goods the liberalization of trade has also brought with it services, investment and human capital. The latter two being something more difficult to concretely assess but should be included in the overall assessment. Understanding the flow of information along with the intellectual capital encourages a greater conception of global commerce and the antecedents to that commerce. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is an imp

Successful development in Southeast Asia often rests partly in foreign direct investment and multinational firms. The author studied the investments between Malaysia and Singapore to determine that two-way investments embedded within business networks fostered synergy for economic growth (Yeung, 1998). It is a process of creating linkages between two economies, or entities, to ensure they develop from each other to create products for the market.  What makes this process possible is that Malaysia and Singapore invest in each other’s economies. For example, Singapore invests primarily in services within Malaysia’s primary manufacturing base. Malaysia becomes an exporter of finished products and returns investment profits back to companies in Singapore.  As the cross regional investments increase so does the business connection between the areas. The use of these connections and cross-capital investments creates a type of synergy based upon the varying skill sets embedded