Romania is 83rd in a global ranking of the potential inflows of foreign direct investment, behind Gabon, Peru and Indonesia, in line with the indexes calculated for 2000-2002 by the UN Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the main research and development reporting body within the United Nations.
Among the states that have recently been included in the European Union, Slovenia ranks 27th from this point of view, Hungary holds the 41st position, the Czech Republic comes 42nd and Poland is placed 44th.
Amid the decline in foreign investment flows in Central and Eastern Europe and globally (from 678.8 billion dollars in 2002 to 559.6 billion dollars in 2003, according to the Global Investment Report drawn up by UNCTAD), Romania witnessed an increase in investment inflows from 1.14 billion dollars in 2002 to 1.56 billion dollars in 2003.
Investment is rising in Romania, but its level is still low. The foreign direct investment volume in 2003 reached 12.69 billion dollars (23.4% of the Gross Domestic Product), up from 8.87 billion dollars (19.4% of GDP) in 2002, the UNCTAD report reads.
The main beneficiary of the foreign capital inflows in Romania has been the banking sector, where about 59% of total assets are controlled by international financial institutions. Foreign investment has also been directed to the services sector internationally, with the respective segment accounting for almost 60% of the global volume of foreign direct investment in 2002.
In Central and Eastern Europe, foreign investment inflows posted an unexpected drop from 31.2 billion dollars in 2002 to 21 billion dollars in 2003. The main reason behind this evolution is the fact that the privatisation and restructuring process has been finalised in the former main recipients of foreign investment in the region, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
"Romania has an important lesson to learn from the Czech Republic and Slovakia," said Ruxandra Stan, executive manager of the Foreign Investors Council in Romania.
"In Romania, too, big privatisations have been finalised. Starting next year, we should be focusing on attracting greenfield investments," Ruxandra Stan added. To avoid a future decline of investment inflows, Romania should start focusing on attracting greenfield investments, whose effects become visible three or four years after they are launched.
ioana.leaua@zf.ro
