Doing Business in Greater Washington

International Study


International Firms in Greater Washington – Sept. 2003
Update from 2001 International Business Study
by Greater Washington Initiative

Foreign-owned firms operating in Greater Washington:

The number of Greater Washington foreign-owned firms decreased from 643 in 2001 to 607 in 2003.

Japanese firms accounted for the lion share of the decline with 18 fewer affiliated firms operating in the region (99). This decline likely reflects the impact of Japan’s long-term economic problems.

The United Kingdom accounted for 112 or 18.5% of all firms, passing Japan as the home to the most firms operating in Greater Washington.

Listed below are 11 nations with the largest number of offices/facilities in Greater Washington.

Rank Country/Kingdom Number of Firms Number of Firms
2003 2001
1 United Kingdom 112 114
2 Japan 99 117
3 France 65 63
4 Germany 50 59
5 Canada 47 60
6 Korea 31 5
7 Israel 30 31
8 Netherlands 26 37
9 Switzerland 19 17
10 Finland 13 19
10 Sweden 13 14


Korea, which had only five firms in 2001 broke into the 6th spot in 2003 with 31.  This is an increase of 520.0%.

61.1% of these firms are based in Europe, which is slightly lower than the 63.8% in the prior survey. Firms from East Asia and the Pacific accounted for 23.6% of the companies operating in the region, an increase of 3.8 percentage points from two years ago. The Western Hemisphere accounted for 8.1% the Middle East and North Africa 6.3%, South Asia 1.0% and Africa 0.2%, little change from the previous survey.

Locally headquartered companies with offices/facilities outside the U.S.:

Seventy-seven (73.6%) large, locally headquartered companies with offices in other countries operate in the United Kingdom, an increase from 69 firms (65.7%) in the previous study two years ago. Germany is host to the second-largest number of local firms (40.66%).

Belgium and China, two countries that were not in the ten top locations for local firms in 2001, now have the sixth and eighth largest figures.

Mexico and Australia fell out of the top ten.

Listed below are the top ten international locations for Greater Washington headquartered firms:

Rank Location       Percent
1 United Kingdom 73.60%
2 Germany 40.60%
3 Canada 34.90%
4 Japan 34.90%
5 France 29.30%
6 Belgium 26.40%
7 Netherlands 24.50%
8 China 23.60%
9 Brazil 23.60%
10 Spain 23.60%
10 Italy 22.60%

 


Regionally, 84.9% of Greater Washington firms surveyed have offices/facilities in Europe, up from approximately 81% in 2001.

The number of Greater Washington firms operating in the Western Hemisphere and East Asia and Pacific regions were unchanged at 50.9% and 50.0% respectively.

Both the Middle East and Africa declined as regions for a local company presence.

23.6% of local firms now have offices/facilities in China. Less than 0.5% of foreign-owned firms operating in Greater Washington are from China.

Both Belgium and Italy rank as popular locations for local firms to operate. However, both nations rank just below the top ten countries with operations in our region.

The countries of Korea, Israel, Switzerland, Finland and Sweden, which are not among the top locations for local firms to operate, rank in the top tier for having foreign operations in Greater Washington. This indicates the confidence placed by firms from these nations in the region’s economy and its ability to continue to serve as a profitable business location.
 

Data through May 15, 2003

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