Report: Greece trailing in Foreign Direct Investments despite rise

Greece remains a laggard in attracting foreign direct investment despite a 123 percent increase in 2016 compared to the year before, according to the latest annual report by Ernst & Young.

Among the 44 European countries surveyed for FDI attractiveness, Greece ranked 34th in the number of FDI projects and 35th in the number of jobs created.

The report showed that, last year, 13 FDI projects were implemented in Greece, generating 111 jobs, mainly in the financial, transport and communication sectors. There were eight FDI projects in the financial sector, two in manufacturing and one apiece in agriculture, transport, communication and construction.

FDI came from the UK in four instances, Japan in two while the rest came from France, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the US, Spain, the Netherlands and Serbia.

“Although 2016 marked some improvement in FDI in Greece, the country’s continuing absence from the list of the 20 most attractive investment destinations in Europe and the small number of FDI projects sound the alarm for the measures Greece must take to attract foreign investors,” commented Panos Papazoglou, managing partner at EY Greece.

“In a continent where it’s raining investments, as FDI projects soar year after year, Greece appears to be holding an umbrella. The state and the institutional bodies must immediately take measures to create an attractive investment field to make the most of the country’s great potential and create more jobs, gradually leading the economy out of its crisis,” he added.

At the same time FDI projects in Europe reached a historic high: They added up to 5,845, posting an annual increase of 15 percent, and generated 259,673 new jobs, which was 19 percent more than in 2015. Britain, France and Germany were the top destinations for foreign investment, concentrating 51 percent of FDI projects in Europe between them last year. They recorded 1,144, 1,063 and 779 projects respectively. Poland, with 256 FDI projects last year, became the first country from Central and Eastern Europe to make the top five.

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