Is Georgia on Their Minds?--Some Legal Aspects of Investment and Trade by Foreign Business Enterprises

Traveling north on 1-75 through Macon, Georgia, a motorist will pass a billboard, looking much like a zipper, which boasts the name of the world\u27s largest zipper manufacturer. What the sign does not mention is that the company, YKK Zipper Company, Inc., is a subsidiary of Yoshida Kogyo K.K. which is headquartered in Tokyo. This business entity is just one of the many in a growing number of businesses which are presently operating within Georgia and which are established in, or have legal connections with, business entities outside the United States. With the increasing interdependence among nations in a multitude of areas and the desire and need for new and expanded markets for a variety of goods and services, investment and trade among countries have increased. The term foreign investment, as used in this article, encompasses any type of investment made in Georgia by a person, natural or legal, who is of another nationality or is established in another country