Foreword In the wake of recent elections, which promise to accelerate a sweeping range of policies aimed at resetting global trade through tariffs and export controls, supply chain leaders are adapting to significant changes. At the same time, they are navigating multiple global conflicts across Europe and the Middle East alongside the rapid advancement of future technologies like AI. In response, leaders are prioritizing a holistic range of actions to bridge the gaps between strategic intent and operational delivery. As manufacturers are reassessing their footprints and network strategies, making location decisions based on cost alone is evolving into a more complex process that considers a country’s ability to create environment change in line with strategic priorities. Building upon the World Economic Forum’s white paper From Disruption to Opportunity: Strategies from Rewiring Global Value Chains, this report highlights seven country-level readiness factors beyond cost considerations that foreign investors are increasingly scrutinizing. The interventions highlighted in this paper can help public and private sector stakeholders inform decision-making processes and identify appropriate conditions and policies to ensure the manufacturing sector delivers responsible growth. To be recognized as a favourable destination for manufacturing and supply chain operations, governments can strengthen their industrial agendas by developing strategic policy frameworks in collaboration with the private sector. Ultimately, this will aid corporations that are now balancing trade-offs between cost, performance, resilience and sustainability along their rewiring journey. Amid the global rewiring and a new emerging chapter of global trade, we hope this paper can help structure how to answer these questions with more clarity and ensure that future global value rewiring changes work for all – including developed and developing countries and companies of all sizes – for the decade to come.Kiva Allgood Head, Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and Supply Chains; Member, Executive CommitteePer Kristian Hong Partner and Americas Co-Lead, Operations and Performance Beyond Cost: Country Readiness for Manufacturing and Supply ChainsDecember 2024 Beyond Cost: Country Readiness for the Future of Manufacturing and Supply Chains 3

Beyond Cost 2024