The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) based in Geneva, Switzerland publishes the World Investment Report each year. This report offers a comprehensive review of flow of funds between countries called Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), industries attracting major investments, developed vs emerging and transition economies, etc. One section of the report that I have posted in the past is the top 100 firms in the three types of economies. The following list is from the 2023 report.
The World’s Top 100 Non-Financial MNEs from Developing and Transition Economies based on Foreign Assets in 2021 are listed in the table below:
| Ranking by Foreign assets | Corporation | Home Economy | Industry | Foreign Assets in 2022 (Millions of dollars) | Total Assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toyota Motor Corporation | Japan | Motor Vehicles | 383 413 | 557 928 |
| 2 | Shell plc | United Kingdom | Mining, quarrying and petroleum | 335 577 | 366 226 |
| 3 | TotalEnergies SE | France | Petroleum Refining and Related Industries | 274 337 | 302 827 |
| 4 | Deutsche Telekom AG | Germany | Telecommunications | 265 071 | 318 462 |
| 5 | Volkswagen Group | Germany | Motor Vehicles | 255 155 | 602 359 |
| 6 | BP plc | United Kingdom | Petroleum Refining and Related Industries | 238 860 | 286 439 |
| 7 | Stellantis NV | Netherlands | Motor Vehicles | 179 910 | 198 545 |
| 8 | Anheuser-Busch InBev NV | Belgium | Food & beverages | 177 639 | 212 216 |
| 9 | British American Tobacco PLC | United Kingdom | Tobacco | 176 504 | 184 661 |
| 10 | Exxon Mobil Corporation | United States | Petroleum Refining and Related Industries | 176 225 | 369 067 |
| 11 | Enel SpA | Italy | Electricity, gas and water | 163 295 | 234 234 |
| 12 | EDF SA | France | Electricity, gas and water | 162 096 | 413 963 |
| 13 | Chevron Corporation | United States | Petroleum Refining and Related Industries | 159 204 | 257 709 |
| 14 | Vodafone Group Plc | United Kingdom | Telecommunications | 154 647 | 169 136 |
| 15 | Sony Group Corp | Japan | Consumer electronics | 154 218 | 240 591 |
| 16 | BMW AG | Germany | Motor Vehicles | 153 784 | 263 360 |
| 17 | Honda Motor Co Ltd | Japan | Motor Vehicles | 145 400 | 185 243 |
| 18 | China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) | China | Mining, quarrying and petroleum | 140 644 | 670 315 |
| 19 | CK Hutchison Holdings Limited | Hong Kong, China | Retail Trade | 136 917 | 147 292 |
| 20 | Microsoft Corporation | United States | Computer and Data Processing | 131 442 | 364 840 |
| 21 | Siemens AG | Germany | Industrial and Commercial Machinery | 129 795 | 147 677 |
| 22 | Mercedes-Benz Group | Germany | Motor Vehicles | 128 010 | 277 320 |
| 23 | Sinochem Holdings | China | Chemicals and Allied Products | 127 804 | 245 526 |
| 24 | Iberdrola SA | Spain | Electricity, gas and water | 123 485 | 164 961 |
| 25 | Johnson & Johnson | United States | Pharmaceuticals | 121 095 | 187 378 |
| 26 | Eni SpA | Italy | Petroleum Refining and Related Industries | 115 207 | 162 255 |
| 27 | Hon Hai Precision Industries | Taiwan Province of China | Electronic components | 115 110 | 134 508 |
| 28 | RWE AG | Germany | Electricity, gas and water | 114 284 | 147 769 |
| 29 | Nestlé SA | Switzerland | Food & beverages | 114 132 | 146 428 |
| 30 | Glencore PLC | Switzerland | Mining, quarrying and petroleum | 106 228 | 131 810 |
| 31 | Huawei Investment & Holding Co Ltd | China | Communications equipment | 103 384 | 154 204 |
| 32 | Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited | Japan | Pharmaceuticals | 100 542 | 104 806 |
| 33 | Rio Tinto PLC | United Kingdom | Mining, quarrying and petroleum | 96 564 | 96 744 |
| 34 | Alphabet Inc | United States | Computer and Data Processing | 96 266 | 365 264 |
| 35 | Sinopec – China Petrochemical Corporation | China | Petroleum Refining and Related Industries | 96 003 | 386 619 |
| 36 | Engie | France | Electricity, gas and water | 92 427 | 251 163 |
| 37 | Apple Inc | United States | Computer Equipment | 92 115 | 352 755 |
| 38 | Mitsubishi Corporation | Japan | Wholesale Petroleum and Fuels | 90 971 | 166 342 |
| 39 | ArcelorMittal | Luxembourg | Metals and metal products | 90 946 | 94 224 |
| 40 | Bayer AG | Germany | Pharmaceuticals | 90 873 | 133 188 |
| 41 | Saudi Aramco | Saudi Arabia | Mining, quarrying and petroleum | 89 333 | 664 780 |
| 42 | Amazon.com, Inc | United States | E-Commerce | 88 408 | 462 675 |
| 43 | Medtronic plc | Ireland | Instruments and related products | 88 006 | 90 981 |
| 44 | Christian Dior SA | France | Textiles, clothing and leather | 87 176 | 140 733 |
| 45 | Telefonica SA | Spain | Telecommunications | 87 164 | 116 939 |
| 46 | Pfizer Inc | United States | Pharmaceuticals | 85 976 | 197 205 |
| 47 | Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corporation | Japan | Telecommunications | 84 378 | 190 039 |
| 48 | China COSCO Shipping Corp Ltd | China | Transport and storage | 83 687 | 156 073 |
| 49 | Roche Group | Switzerland | Pharmaceuticals | 83 680 | 95 484 |
| 50 | Mitsui & Co Ltd | Japan | Wholesale Metals and Minerals | 82 835 | 115 492 |
| 51 | Unilever PLC | United Kingdom | Food & beverages | 82 666 | 88 827 |
| 52 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Korea, Republic of | Communications equipment | 81 893 | 355 846 |
| 53 | Novartis AG | Switzerland | Pharmaceuticals | 79 662 | 117 606 |
| 54 | AstraZeneca PLC | United Kingdom | Pharmaceuticals | 79 232 | 95 920 |
| 55 | Sanofi | France | Pharmaceuticals | 79 184 | 135 156 |
| 56 | Linde PLC | United Kingdom | Chemicals and Allied Products | 77 277 | 79 658 |
| 57 | Ford Motor Company | United States | Motor Vehicles | 77 195 | 255 884 |
| 58 | Equinor ASA | Norway | Petroleum Refining and Related Industries | 76 473 | 158 021 |
| 59 | Nissan Motor Co Ltd | Japan | Motor Vehicles | 76 250 | 132 144 |
| 60 | China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) | China | Mining, quarrying and petroleum | 75 675 | 212 644 |
| 61 | Enbridge Inc | Canada | Electricity, gas and water | 72 213 | 132 670 |
| 62 | Trafigura Group Pte Ltd | Singapore | Wholesale Metals and Minerals | 70 530 | 98634 |
| 63 | AerCap Holdings | Ireland | Business Services | 69 727 | 69 727 |
| 64 | National Grid PLC | United Kingdom | Electricity, gas and water | 68 792 | 114 653 |
| 65 | Tencent Holdings Limited | China | Computer and Data Processing | 68 603 | 202 402 |
| 66 | Airbus SE | France | Aircraft | 68 045 | 123 660 |
| 67 | Veolia Environnement SA | France | Electricity, gas and water | 67 304 | 78 183 |
| 68 | SAP SE | Germany | Computer and Data Processing | 67 080 | 76 961 |
| 69 | Robert Bosch GmbH | Germany | Motor Vehicles | 65 780 | 106 919 |
| 70 | Mundys Spa | Italy | Construction | 64 749 | 73 615 |
| 71 | Anglo American plc | United Kingdom | Mining, quarrying and petroleum | 63 269 | 67 014 |
| 72 | BASF SE | Germany | Chemicals and Allied Products | 63 115 | 90 094 |
| 73 | General Motors Co | United States | Motor Vehicles | 62 116 | 264 037 |
| 74 | Orange SA | France | Telecommunications | 61 943 | 116 948 |
| 75 | General Electric Co | United States | Industrial and Commercial Machinery | 61 783 | 187 788 |
| 76 | Intel Corporation | United States | Electronic components | 61 209 | 182 103 |
| 77 | GlaxoSmithKline PLC | United Kingdom | Pharmaceuticals | 60 419 | 72 334 |
| 78 | Lafargeholcim Ltd | Switzerland | Building materials | 60 342 | 62 395 |
| 79 | The Coca-Cola Company | United States | Food & beverages | 59 828 | 92 763 |
| 80 | Procter & Gamble Co | United States | Household Products | 58 051 | 117 208 |
| 81 | Schneider Electric SA | France | Electricity, gas and water | 57 723 | 62 253 |
| 82 | Micron Technology | United States | Electronic components | 57 572 | 66 283 |
| 83 | Mondelez International, Inc. | United States | Food & beverages | 55 635 | 71 161 |
| 84 | Vinci SA | France | Construction | 55 086 | 119 444 |
| 85 | Hitachi Ltd | Japan | Conglomerate | 54 939 | 93 871 |
| 86 | State Grid Corporation of China | China | Electricity, gas and water | 54 509 | 746 915 |
| 87 | Comcast Corp | United States | Telecommunications | 52 378 | 257 275 |
| 88 | AP Moller – Maersk A/S | Denmark | Transport and storage | 52 167 | 93 337 |
| 89 | TC Energy Corp | Canada | Electricity, gas and water | 51 948 | 84 464 |
| 90 | Seven & i Holdings | Japan | Wholesale Trade | 51 700 | 77 147 |
| 91 | Deutsche Post AG | Germany | Transport and storage | 51 694 | 72 822 |
| 92 | IBM Corp | United States | Computer and Data Processing | 50 332 | 127 243 |
| 93 | Petronas – Petroliam Nasional Bhd | Malaysia | Mining, quarrying and petroleum | 49 026 | 161 310 |
| 94 | Legend Holdings Corporation | China | Computer Equipment | 48 823 | 98 905 |
| 95 | Air Liquide SA | France | Chemicals and Allied Products | 48 684 | 52 814 |
| 96 | Renault SA | France | Motor Vehicles | 48 316 | 126 193 |
| 97 | Walmart inc | United States | Retail Trade | 48 273 | 243 197 |
| 98 | Hanwha Corporation | Korea, Republic of | Conglomerate | 48 254 | 167 578 |
| 99 | OMV AG | Austria | Petroleum Refining and Related Industries | 48 149 | 60 185 |
| 100 | Volvo AB | Sweden | Motor Vehicles | 47 091 | 60 329 |
Source: World Investment Report 2023, UNCTAD
A few observations:
- More than half of the companies listed above are from China (incl. Hong Kong)
- Mexico has just 5 firms represented in this list and Brazil even lower with only 2 firms.
- Taiwan is represented by 7 firms mostly from the tech hardware sector. Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision Industries) has significant assets in foreign countries and is ranked among the top five.
- Oil and natural gas companies have major investments in neighboring and other countries and hence take up 15 spots in this list.
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Disclosure: No Positions
