Funding of business enterprise research and development (BERD) may be national or foreign. It may originate from private business, public institutions (government and higher education), or international organisations. Research and development (R&D) funding from abroad includes, for instance, R&D performed by affiliates of foreign-owned companies, R&D undertaken under contract on behalf of companies based abroad or research grants from international organisations. On average, R&D funding from abroad plays quite an important role in the funding of business R&D. In the EU, it represented around 10% of total business enterprise R&D in 2008. The weight of foreign multinationals in the economy and in the domestic production of technology appears to matter. For Austria, Ireland, the Slovak Republic and the United Kingdom, funds from abroad represented 20% or more of total business enterprise R&D.