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Trade and investment

Trade and investment government organizations are tasked with the crucial job of navigating an increasingly complex and data-driven global economy.

Moody’s enables government officials and policymakers to make more confident and transparent decisions, but also provide deep insights into global market trends, investment opportunities, and potential trade risks.

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Who we help

01 Economic development organizations

Economic development organizations

Organizations use Moody’s data to understand macro and microeconomic investment trends, identify investment opportunities, industry dynamics, and risk factors, facilitating strategic planning and policy implementation to foster regional growth.

02 Investment promotion agencies

Investment promotion agencies

With Moody's data, agencies can analyze global investment trends, assess potential investment sectors, and evaluate risk-return trade-offs, aiding them in attracting and retaining domestic and foreign investments.

03 Trade and export promotion agencies

Trade and export promotion agencies

Agencies can utilize the data to identify market opportunities, track global trade flows, and predict economic trends, supporting businesses in expanding their export operations through loans.

04 FDI screening organizations

FDI screening organizations

Moody’s helps FDI organizations evaluate the impact and potential risks of foreign direct investments, ensuring alignment with national security and economic interests.

05 Research organizations

Research organizations

Research organizations use Moody's data for rigorous, data-driven research on a variety of economic and financial topics, contributing to a more informed public discourse and policy-making process.

The trends and prospects in global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

In this four-part video series, Fernando Gutierrez Barragan, Trade & Investment Industry Practice Lead at Moody’s interviews James Zhan, Director of Investment & Enterprise Division at UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade & Development) on the latest challenges and opportunities in FDI

Global FDI trends

Delve into the current dynamics of FDI worldwide and understand the impact of recent global challenges like geopolitical tensions, the pandemic, and the push towards digitization and sustainability.

Current FDI strategies

Businesses and investors are diversifying their investment and supply chain strategies in response to evolving global dynamics, including approaches such as nearshoring and “China Plus One”. Zhan highlights the strategic considerations driving these shifts, including trade tensions, the search for resilience and efficiency in supply chains, and the implications for global trade patterns.

Beneficiaries of new FDI strategies and interdependency of value chains

Specific countries and regions have emerged as beneficiaries in this evolving landscape, often due to their strategic location, economic policies, or investment in infrastructure and skills development. These shifts are fostering new interdependencies in global value chains, with some countries enhancing their roles in manufacturing, services, or digital technologies.

The future of FDI and the transformation of global value chains

Global value chains are poised to evolve. Zhan provides a holistic view of the potential changes on the horizon for global economic integration and how businesses, policymakers, and countries can navigate these shifts to harness opportunities for growth and development.

How we help

01 Firm-level data

Firm-level data

Orbis is a data solution that provides comprehensive, standardized and up-to-date business information on millions of companies worldwide. The solution enhances decision-making processes in various business operations, including credit risk management, supplier evaluation, and market research, by providing crucial data like financials, ownership structure, and industry specifics.

More on Orbis for compliance
02 FDI data

FDI data

Orbis Crossborder Investment (OCI) solution is a comprehensive tool that provides detailed information on foreign direct investments worldwide. It allows users to track, analyse, and compare data on thousands of greenfield investment projects and M&A deals, offering deep insights into global investment trends and enabling informed decision-making in international business strategy.

03 Patent data

Patent data

Orbis Intellectual Property solution is a comprehensive data and analytics platform designed to aid decision-making in the fields of intellectual property (IP) strategy, research, and development. It provides users with access to extensive global patent data to facilitate evaluations of technology landscapes, competitor insights, and potential partnership opportunities.

More on data for patent research
04 Sustainability data

Sustainability data

Moody's sustainability data is a rich dataset that provides comprehensive and standardized environmental, social, and governance metrics on a broad range of companies worldwide. This information helps investors, lenders, and other stakeholders assess risks and opportunities, enabling more informed decision-making in terms of sustainability.

More on sustainability risk
05 Lending data

Lending data

Moody's solutions can help government organizations with export promotion lending by providing credit ratings, research, and risk assessment tools to help evaluate the creditworthiness of potential borrowers and mitigate the risks associated with lending to foreign buyers. This enables government organizations to make informed decisions and minimize the likelihood of defaults, thereby reducing the risks to their reputation and financial stability.

More on trade credit

Watch on-demand

webinar

Apr 15, 2025
The global trade war takes a dark turn

President Trump’s shocking tariff hike has sparked a global trade war and significantly raised the odds of a global recession. In this webinar, we will assess the current state of play and consider various scenarios of how the trade war will play out and what it means for the U.S. and global economies in the short and long run.

Watch now

News and views

research

Jun 04, 2025

 Moody's
Foreign direct investment (FDI) trends in U.S. manufacturing sectors

Moody’s and SelectUSA provide a joint analysis of investment patterns, milestones, and macro-level sectoral shifts that have impacted FDI into U.S. manufacturing over a 10-year time horizon.

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blog

Apr 24, 2025

 Moody's
Leveraging modern technology for swift, targeted digital investigations of financial crime

Financial crime poses a significant threat to government revenues, national security, and society more broadly, which makes it crucial for state departments and public sector teams to pursue swift and accurate investigations.

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blog

Mar 21, 2025

 Moody's
Resilience after disruption: Improving supply chain risk management after Covid-19

This year marks five years since many governments around the world began imposing lockdowns to manage the Covid-19 outbreak, which upended global supply chains and transformed supply chain risk management.

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article

Oct 24, 2024

 Moody's
Moody’s expands Orbis Crossborder Investment capabilities with IBM Plant Location International collaboration

Discover how Moody’s and IBM PLI are enhancing FDI insights with the Orbis Crossborder Investment tool, offering advanced analytics and robust data.

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whitepaper
Nearshoring and potential trade triangulation

Exploring nearshoring's impact in North America, this paper examines Mexico's role and the risk of trade triangulation amid evolving global dynamics.

Source: Moody’s

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case study
The Infinite Game: Inside the constantly evolving global battle with financial crime

Welcome to Moody’s story of The Infinite Game told through a documentary series that spotlights why financial crime countermeasures can never become “set and forget” activities.

Watch now
whitepaper
Select USA FDI and innovation in the US

This report explores the contributions in innovation of top foreign direct investments (FDI) in the United States. It features comparisons between top investor patent performance in the United States and the rest of the world, details on the key sectors and geographies in the United States where the top FDI investors do business, and informative investor-specific experiences.

  • Public sector
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research
Report from the European Commission

Third Annual Report on the screening of foreign direct investments into the Union.

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