Dear Members of the World Investment Network,
It is my pleasure to share with you eight new Investment
Country Profiles: Argentina,
Turkey,
Italy,
Greece,
France,
Ukraine,
Tunisia
and South
Africa. Let me present some highlights
from these profiles:
Argentina
has attracted significant amounts of FDI since the economic liberalization
and FDI facilitation policies implemented in the early 1990s. In the 1990-2000
period, FDI was fuelled by investments mainly in oil and gas and service
industries, driven by the opening up of large sectors to foreign ownership
and by a vast privatization programme. From 2004, following three years
of decline due to the country's economic and financial crisis, FDI flows
resumed their growth mainly due to increasing share of reinvested earnings.
After a period of sluggish growth lasting until 2000,Turkey
has experienced a substantial increase in both inward and outward FDI.
Its inward FDI stock increased from $20 billion in 2001 to $186 billion
in 2010 —
a volume equivalent to one quarter of the country's GDP. FDI inflows reached
an annual average of $15 billion during 2005-2010 from $2 billion through
2000-2004. The recent surge in FDI inflows is due to privatizations in
sectors such as energy, telecommunications and banking and to the strong
growth of the economy.
Italy's
stock of outward FDI reached half a trillion dollar in 2010, while
its inward stock attained $332 billion. However, compared to most of the
other major EU countries, Italy is underperforming in its FDI attraction
related to the size of its economy: while Italy accounted for 13 per cent
of the EU’s GDP in 2010, its outward stock was 5.3 per cent and its inward
stock was 4.9 per cent of the EU’s totals.
Greece
has attracted a relatively small amount of FDI compared to other countries
in EU. In 2010, its share in the EU’s FDI stock was less than 0.5 per
cent. Greece’s inward FDI stock exceeded its outward stock throughout
the last decade, but in 2009 and 2010, its outward stock overtook inward
stock due to the decline in the market value of assets in Greece.
FDI outward stock from France
reached $1.5 trillion compared to an inward stock of $1 trillion. In the
context of EU, the size of both inward and outward FDI stocks of France
is largely in line with the size of its economy, which is one of the important
FDI determinants: in 2010, while France accounted for 16 per cent of the
EU’s GDP, its shares of outward and inward stocks in the EU’s totals
were 17 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively.
Despite its sizable relatively large market, Ukraine's
performance in attracting FDI has been below its potential. In 2010 its
inward FDI stock reached $58 billion ─ a volume equivalent to 42 percent
of the GDP, lower than other neighbouring countries. The FDI outward stock
of the country also remained modest ─ $8 billion. During the financial
and economic crisis, FDI inflows dropped to roughly $5 billion in 2009
as Ukraine was one of the countries worst hit by the crisis. In 2010, however,
FDI flows rose to $6.5 billion, though short of the record level of 2008.
Tunisia's
inward FDI stock in 2010 reached $30 billion, an amount equivalent to 78
per cent of its GDP. Like other countries in Africa, FDI inflows to Tunisia
have been on a downward trend since 2008. The primary sector accounted
for the bulk of inward FDI flows in Tunisia with petroleum industry alone
accounting for over 60 per cent of the total inflows in 2010.
In 2010, South
Africa’s
inward FDI stock reached $153 billion —
a volume equivalent to 42 per cent of its GDP. After reaching a peak $9
billion in 2008 driven by the resource boom, FDI inflows declined to $5.4
billion and $1.3 billion respectively in 2009 and 2010. FDI inflows to
South Africa have traditionally been volatile, mainly due to the high share
of mergers and acquisitions in inward investment, often including mega
deals.
Investment Country Profiles, which we publish regularly, are aimed at policymakers,
researchers, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and decision
makers in the private sector, who need up-to-date information on the patterns
and trends of FDI and TNC activity at the country level. The next Investment
Country Profiles will include Chile, Croatia, Jordan, Mexico, Oman, Portugal,
Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia and Sweden.
Best regards,
James X. Zhan
Director
Investment & Enterprise Division
United Nations Conference on Trade & Development
Palais des Nations, Geneva
Tel: +41 22 9175797
www.unctad.org/diae
wir
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