Report: Dallas, Plano Among Top U.S. Cities for Foreign Business Investment

In the inaugural 'Investing in America' report from the Financial Times and Nikkei, Dallas ranks No. 6 overall, and Plano ranks No. 13. Irving shines strongly in the report, too, ranking highly on several key data points. And looking only at workforce and talent, Plano comes in at No. 1 in the entire country.

The report is timely: Just two weeks ago, EDC leaders from across North Texas were part of a TxEDC trade mission to London, Paris, and Frankfurt, Germany.

The Financial Times and Nikkei have released their inaugural “Investing in America” report—and three North Texas cities came out like gangbusters in it. The report ranks the best cities in the U.S. for foreign multinationals to do business in.

Dallas (No. 6) and Plano (No. 13) both rank in the top 20 of cities overall, in data points from workforce and talent to openness, business environment, foreign business needs, quality of life, investment trends, and aftercare.

Looking only at workforce and talent, Plano pops right to the top—coming in No. 1 in the entire country and edging out Austin, San Francisco, and Seattle, respectively.

Dallas and Irving both make the Top 20 for workforce and talent as well, ranking No. 19 and No. 20.

Irving ranks high in other key data points

Irving performs strongly in the report on three other key data points, including openness (No. 3), quality of life (No. 10), and aftercare (No. 8).

Aftercare signifies the administrative support given by cities to foreign companies after they’ve invested, and Dallas did great on that measure too, coming in at No. 3.

You can slide through the interactive rankings yourself to see how the metrics impact cities by going here.

DFW is on the hunt for foreign investment

Photo: saiko3p/iStock

Just two weeks ago, EDC leaders from across North Texas traveled to London, Paris, and Frankfurt, Germany on a trade mission to sell top European business centers on Texas.

They accompanied Texas First Lady Cecilia Abbott; Secretary of State John Scott; TxEDC President & CEO Robert Allen; TED&T Executive Director Adriana Cruz; and other Texas business leaders on the trip sponsored by TxEDC—the “private side” of a public-private partnership with Governor Greg Abbott’s Office of Texas Economic Development & Tourism.

And in 2018, Capital One President of Financial Services Sanjiv Yajnik and Nextt CEO Arun Agarwal traveled with Governor Greg Abbott on a trade mission to India, co-chairing the visit. Yajnik told Dallas Innovates the goal for the trip was “to meet up with the Prime Minister to connect with key business folks in India with the objective of bringing back business to Texas. And we were successful.”

Other findings of the FT-Nikkei report

Miami came in No. 1 overall in the FT-Nikkei report on the best U.S. cities for foreign businesses, followed by Orlando, New York, Boston, Houston, and Dallas.

Japan is the largest source of direct financial investment in the U.S., followed by Germany, Canada, the U.K., South Korea, and China, the report notes.

Around half of Japan’s investment has been in the manufacturing sector, the report says. You can see that impact right here in the region: Toyota’s North American headquarters is in Plano.

That helps explain why Plano came in No. 1 in the report in the workforce and talent category.

“Every site we pay for, we want to make sure it’s successful,” Tim Ignle, CFO of Toyota Motor North America, told the Financial Times. “And that success starts with its labor force.”