Читать книгу Process Industries 1 - Группа авторов - Страница 34

Trade has existed for millennia: the Phoenicians crossed the Mediterranean; the Silk Road is still something to aspire to. European and American companies have invested outside their borders for more than two centuries, creating imposing infrastructures (the Panama Canal).

Globalization supported by the Internet, containerization of transport, oil and coal flows, to name a few, and the rise of China, which is on the way to becoming the world’s leading economic power in a few decades, have been game-changing. Surprisingly enough, little is said about India, soon to be the most populous country in the world.

Large companies have had to invest massively in production facilities abroad, taking advantage of their technological advance in certain fields, supporting the economic development of their local partners with whom they now compete. Recently, China has been investing abroad, not only in French vineyards, but also in technological companies: should this be seen as a fair return?

These changes, in the context of our work, give rise to reflections concerning the establishment of a company abroad, its mode of technology transfer, and the expatriation of its employees. We will return to this in Chapter 4 of the second volume.