Having learned that you are quickly becoming known as an expert consultant on your chosen focus country, an international venture capital firm has retained your services on behalf of several rich clients who seek investment opportunities abroad.  They have asked you to develop a proposal for an industrial plant for your country that will make use of locally obtained resources, readily available labor pool, and transportation facilities.  What kind of industry will you propose to them?  Certain industrial processes require large amounts of energy.  Are energy sources available in your country?  What natural resources are available and in what quantity?  Remember that vertical integration may be a possibility, i.e., the finished product of an existing industry could serve as a raw material for a newly established  and potentially lucrative industrial operation.  Remember the concept of value added.  Labor is also critical to manufacturing success.  Is there a ready pool of labor of suitable technical skill or training?  As you know, much of the world now offers an abundant supply of cheap workers for labor-intensive industrial processes.  Is this the situation in your country?  Or has there been a history of manufacturing there already?  Perhaps wages are too high for a labor-intensive operation, and you may wish to recommend some high-tech, perhaps robotic or other highly mechanized plant.  What about a marketing plan for your manufactured product?  Will this item be something that will enter the local economy as a consumer good that is now very much in demand inside the country, or will it strictly be for export.  You may come to realize that secondary economic activity will not be profitable in your country and you may wish to explore opportunities for service-based ventures such as tourism facilities.  But this kind of proposal should be equally site-specific.

    You will thus need to conduct research into your country's manufacturing history and existing level of industrialization; the types and quantities of natural resources available; the population characteristics and level of education;  industrial labor situation (unions?) and the prevailing wage scale;  trade restrictions along with export and import tariffs; and the geography of its existing transportation network and port facilities.  These people are paying you a lot of money, and they expect you to do your homework and get it right.  A three to five page typed or computer printed report is expected from you that will serve as an executive summary of your findings.  You must include a map drawn by you that shows your country's largest urban areas, major road and/or rail network, and location of natural resources required for your operation.  You will indicate on your map the precise location for your client's investment, and explain in your text why you chose that location.

Your Report is due Tuesday,  February  21
 

You are encouraged to use the resources of the library (ask the reference librarians for help!) along with any pertinent data you may find on the world wide web.

CIA World Factbook

Library of Congress Country Studies
 

Some Suggested Search Engines:

Alta Vista

Google

Metacrawler

Hotbot/Lycos

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