Editor’s Note: This story has been changed to reflect updated information provided by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation.
While it may seem like foreign investors are gobbling up downtown Los Angeles properties and building lots of megaprojects, foreign direct investment in Los Angeles County has actually fallen in recent years.
That’s according to a report released Friday from the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation at a downtown conference it sponsored on foreign direct investment.
The report showed downward trends for two key indicators of foreign investment – the number of jobs at foreign-owned enterprises and the dollars that foreign companies pour into facilities.
In 2015, foreign-owned companies employed 177,427 people in Los Angeles, according to the data compiled by the LAEDC. While that appears to be down 8 percent from the last employment figure of 192,800 in 2011 provided in the report, that 2011 figure was from a different data set and is not directly comparable, according to Christine Cooper, chief economist with the LAEDC.
Also in 2015, foreign entities spent nearly $1.3 billion in the county – including offices, production facilities and some development projects. That’s down sharply from 2014’s $3.1 billion and 2013’s $2.3 billion.
Stephen Cheung, president of World Trade Center Los Angeles, one of the report’s authors, said the report didn’t explore the reasons for these declines. But he said that the slowdown in the Chinese economy over the last year could be a factor.
Nonetheless, Los Angeles County still remains a key center for foreign investment. The study found 4,367 foreign-owned firms in the county paying a total of $11.9 billion in wages and benefits to the local workers they employ.
Chinese companies and individuals were the largest investors over the period 2003 through 2015 in L.A. County, with $3.2 billion, followed closely by Japan, then France, Australia and Italy. All told, foreign entities invested $16.7 billion in the county during that 13-year span, generating roughly 50,000 jobs.
Trade, transportation, and manufacturing reporter Olga Grigoryants contributed to this report.
Public policy and energy reporter Howard Fine can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @howardafine.
