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Glite Dictionary
foreign direct investment

foreign direct investment

2 4.6
Money from a company or person in one country used to buy and control a business in another country
  • noun
  • /ˈfɔrɪn daɪˈrɛkt ɪnˈvɛstmənt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : inversión extranjera directa
  • The "global triad," which includes North America, Europe, and East and Southeast Asia, now dominates foreign direct investment (FDI).
  • foreign direct investment flows
  • attract foreign direct investment
  • amount of foreign direct investment

Examples

  • As a result, by 1991, Latin America enjoyed up to 15 times more foreign direct investment than the Middle East.

    Academic text (1995)

  • Despite government efforts to attract foreign capital, foreign direct investment (FDI) has fallen precipitously over the past four years.

    Academic text (2016)

  • Meanwhile, only 30 percent report being involved in foreign direct investment opportunities.

    Blog text (29)

  • UN figures showing foreign direct investment in the UK up last year.

  • Only 15 percent of it is funded by foreign direct investment.

    Academic text (2012)

  • Canada and Mexico have not sent very much foreign direct investment into the United States (Table 12).

    Academic text (1997)

  • IU report: Indiana has been a top destination for foreign direct investment.

    Blog text (33)

  • In several of the smaller and poorer nations, they far exceed external aid and net foreign direct investment.

    Blog text (12)

  • The relaxation of restrictions on foreign direct investment will not guarantee massive inflows.

    Academic text (1997)

  • The government is implementing new policies to encourage foreign direct investment in renewable energy projects.

Surface Forms

foreign direct investment singular
foreign direct investments plural

Morphology

foreign + direct + investment

The overall meaning — an investment from one country into business interests in another done without intermediaries — is directly derivable from the parts: 'foreign' (from another country) + 'direct' (straight/no one between) + 'investment' (committing money expecting benefit). The construction is compositional, relatively literal, and has clear cross‑linguistic equivalents (e.g. Spanish/French cognates), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can grasp the term.

Etymology

Foreign direct investment shows a clear picture: foreign means from another country, direct means you control it yourself, and investment means putting money into a business. So when a company builds or buys a factory abroad to 'own' and 'run' it, that action is called 'foreign direct investment' because the money is used to take direct ownership or control in another country.