Companies are increasingly being held to account for the working conditions in their supply chains, but should the blame for human rights violations be placed on the shoulders of foreign investors?

The US biotechnology landscape has changed radically in the 20 years since the first BIO International Convention. And while investment is still focused on a handful of states, other US destinations are bubbling under.

Bahrain's bid to show its investment potential to the rest of the world by hosting a Formula 1 grand prix may have been blighted by negative press, but the country has still attracted a host of global companies thanks to its emerging financial services sector and logistics capabilities.

German companies investing in the US are having to offer training to bring the local workforce up to German standards. 

As the discord from the Arab Spring uprisings recedes in north African countries such as Morocco and Egypt, FDI is returning, with broadband and communications infrastructure a prime target for investors looking for high growth potential.

At the World Economic Forum meeting on Africa in Cape Town in May, fDi spoke to leading officials from three African countries that are implementing strategies to improve their records for attracting foreign investment.

In a number of US states – including Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia – privately owned utility companies are putting their weight behind local investment promotion efforts, using their extensive resources and discounted energy rates to attract big businesses into the area and increase their customer base. 

Once the poster child of the UK's industrial decline, Sheffield's recession-defying growth in recent years has been based around the city and surrounding region using its past as a steelmaking and mining centre to embrace more modern technology, all backed up by training programmes supplying a steady stream of engineering talent.