Europe’s?emergence?from?recession?was?reflected?in?its?Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) performance last year. In fact, 2013 turned out to be a record year for European FDI, with the number of inward investment decisions reaching an all-time high of 3,955. This represents a 5 percent gain over 2012, according to an EY attractiveness survey.
Nevertheless, suffering from sluggish growth and unstable economic conditions, many of CEE’s leading FDI destinations saw a decline in 2013. On the whole, FDI projects in CEE declined by nearly 5 percent, while job creation fell by 4 percent.
During 2004 – 2008, Romania drew a total of 612 investment projects and ranked second in CEE, after Poland, according to this indicator, but recording the largest decrease between 2009 and 2013, nearly 50 percent, to 311 projects. Following this decline, the local market fell five position, behind Russia, Poland, Turkey and Czech Republic, according to the 2014 edition of the survey EY – European Attractiveness Survey.
Number of new jobs created through FDI in Romania, Poland and the Czech Republic decreased by over 50 percent, while in Turkey and Serbia have increased by 143 percent and 157 percent.
Romania climbed on the third place among the most attractive markets for FDI in CEE, gaining two percentage points in investors’ preferences, according to the report.
CEE region witnessed a decline in its key investment engine, the automotive sector, losing nearly 8 percent of its market share in 2013. Yet overall, manufacturing projects retained their prime position in the CEE with 410 projects (+3 percent compared with 2012). The region also recorded?a?55 percent?increase?in?R&D?operations,?confirming?a?slow?shift up the global value chain.