the formal difference between a joint venture and a strategic alliance is that a strategic alliance is typically is non-equity cooperation, meaning that the partners do not commit equity into or invest in the alliance. The joint venture can be either a contractual non-equity joint venture or an equity joint venture. In a contractual joint venture no joint enterprise with a separate personality is formed. Two or more companies form a partnership to share the cost of investment, the risks and the long-term profits. An equity joint venture involves the creation of a new company in which foreign and local investors share ownership and control. Thus according to these definitions strategic alliances and non-equity joint ventures are more or less the same.