Investment Screenings
Georgetown University, Spring 2021
Problem Statement
The Office of Export Control Cooperation (ECC) needs a way to encourage investment screenings in order to ensure countries are aware of potential security risks tied to these investments.
Problem Scoping and Discovery
Students conducted 65 interviews with members of EXBS, national labs, and other relevant organizations. They discovered that partner nations lack the political will and/or incentives to screen investments. They concluded that an effective solution should not focus on a lack of knowledge/expertise of investment screening best practices, but on the lack of incentives for host nations to implement screenings.
Solution Proposed
The team developed a tool and methodology to assess nations’ vulnerability to unscreened foreign investments and quantify the level of threat those nations face. They recommended EXBS advisors use this tool as an incentive for partner countries to implement more effective investment screenings.
Results
The team handed off their solution to their EXBS sponsors. The tool was finalized and ready for use. Because the tool requires relevant quantitative data on each partner nation to be effective, ECC would need to populate the tool with the appropriate data before deployment.