According
to 54% of the companies, our country will attract more foreign capital over the
next 3 years
Bulgaria ranked third among countries in Southeast Europe in terms of attracting
foreign direct investments (FDI), showed a survey of the U.S. Ernst & Young
company, conducted among 203 executives of multinational companies in late 2009.
Croatia topped the ranking with 40% of the votes of polled persons. Romania
ranked second with 1% less votes. Bulgaria received the approval of 34% of the
respondents, while 33% of them chose our neighbour Serbia. More than half of all
investors (over 54%) were explicit that our country has the potential to attract
more investments over the next three years, showed the survey. Romania and
Croatia remain behind us. "The real challenge for Bulgaria is how to turn this
high investor confidence into real investment projects," said John Mistakidis,
Managing Partner at Ernst & Young Bulgaria. He added that the country is
perhaps the only one in the EU, together with Cyprus, that meets all Maastricht
criteria and this is an excellent reference in the eyes of businessmen,
especially after the severe fiscal crisis in Greece.
"The
measures implemented by the Government in Athens will have an effect and funding
from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will not be needed. Regarding the
relations between Bulgaria and Greece, your southern neighbour is the second
most important export partner of Bulgaria with 9% of all exports. Trade
relations could deteriorate but not significantly, predicted Mistakidis, in
response to the question of Klassa daily. According to Ernst & Young, over
the period 2004-2008, Bulgaria ranked second in Southeast Europe in terms of
attracting FDI, with a total of 287 implemented projects of foreign investors
(23%).
(from Klasa Newspaper)