During the North Carolina Economic Development Association (NCEDA) Site Selectors Summit & Spring Conference in early March, FCEDC President & CEO, Robert Van Geons, spoke on a panel about how to navigate the vetting process for foreign direct investment projects. The discussion included Austin Rouse with EDPNC, David Robinson from Maynard Nexsen, and Cliff Brumfield of Lincoln EDA, and was moderated by Leigh Cockram from Rockingham County Economic Development.

In 1975, the Committee of Foreign Investment in the United States, also known as CFIUS, was established by President Gerald Ford to study and provide policy recommendations regarding foreign investment. In 1988, the Exon-Florio Amendment was passed by Congress, allowing the President the power to block foreign deals after a CFIUS review. Since then, the committee has been granted formal statutory authority by the Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007 and further strengthened in 2018 by the Foreign Investment Risk Review and Modernization Act.

The process and review of CFIUS is put in place as a national security measure to review all transactions within an international company looking to do business in the United States. When evaluating a business, the committee considers many factors including cybersecurity, data and analytics, and more.

As the largest neighbor to the world’s largest military installation by population, Fayetteville and Cumberland County are in a unique situation when approached by international companies looking to build or expand in our community. It is our responsibility to enhance job growth in our region, however, we want to ensure the companies we do business with understand the requirements of going through the CFIUS process.

Watch the panel here.