The growth of the early 2000s hid a lot of risk.
Too much of it relied on debt, property and financial risk-taking. By 2009, that had caught up with the global economy. Businesses cut investment. Consumer spending fell. Trade saw its largest drop of the century and global FDI inflows fell by around 20%.
Governments moved quickly, with fiscal and monetary stimulus and a renewed commitment to free trade as a route back to growth.
For places competing for investment, the mood changed fast.
Investors became more cautious. Cost pressure increased. Companies looked harder at where different parts of their operations should sit. In Western economies, the crisis sped up offshoring to lower-cost locations. In Asia and other emerging markets, it created an opening to attract more production, call centre, BPO and technology services investment.
OCO responded by helping clients read those shifts and shape their offer around them.
During this period, OCO opened an office in Shanghai to support Western companies and agencies navigating China’s complex offshoring market. The team also worked with emerging economies to build stronger propositions for investors looking for specialist capability, cost advantage and access to growth markets.
One example was OCO’s work with CINDE, Costa Rica’s investment promotion agency.
OCO helped shape Costa Rica’s proposition for mainly US medtech and medical device companies. The work focused on the country’s skills base, specialist capability in devices and implants, life sciences locations, and transport links across the Americas.
It gave Costa Rica a clearer investment story in a high-value sector where it could compete with confidence. The country became a top five location for US medical device companies over this period, attracting more projects from the US than major economies such as India and the UK.
The lesson from this period is simple.
No country or region can be everything to every investor. The strongest propositions are selective. They focus on real capability, clear sector choices, and the types of investment that fit the region’s skills base and economic strategy.
Explore 25 years of innovation and impact
This story is one chapter in OCO Global’s 25-year journey. Discover the milestones, ideas and client partnerships that have shaped our work since 2001.
