India’s new business-friendly government is looking to tackle the country's infrastructure problems as part of its plans to boost economic growth. But will the planned spending be enough to support its expanding manufacturing and service industries, or will outside funding be needed?

Fashion brand Uniqlo, part of Fast Retailing, the world's fourth largest retail holding company, has expanded rapidly in recent decades, both at home and abroad. It is a success story – with highs as well as lows – that CEO Tadashi Yanai is urging the Japanese government to learn from.  

With many of the big global cities struggling with infrastructure problems, rising wages and high office and land costs, investors are increasingly looking to smaller second- and third-tier cities in which to base themselves. But where are the emerging urban areas that are posing a threat to their larger counterparts?

Laos may be landlocked, but Japanese investors are discovering the country’s value as an important manufacturing base for their larger operations in Thailand and beyond. 

For FDI projects to have a positive impact on a region, the investing company may need to connect with local supply chains, something that, as Michal Kaczmarski finds out, economic developers are well placed to help with.