Romania attracted 48 percent fewer FDI projects in 2009, says Ernst & Young

Newsroom 07/06/2010 | 11:24

Romania recorded a significant decrease both in terms of the number of FDI (foreign direct investments) projects (-48 percent) and jobs created (-44 percent) in 2009 on the previous year, according to the latest Ernst & Young Annual European Attractiveness Survey. The country attracted 75 FDI projects in 2009, 2 percent of the total in Europe, but reaped 6,384 jobs, 5 percent of the European total. “Despite both the number of projects and job creation falling by more than 40 percent, Romania remained highly attractive for industrial projects, stable at around 7 percent of the European total,” according to the report.

FDI projects in Europe were down by 11 percent in 2009, found the company. The finding is one of a series of contrasting conclusions related to inward investment projects announced across the continent last year. The big European countries continued to attract inward FDI. Projects numbers in the UK were down only 1 percent, while in France, Italy and Germany they were up 1 percent, 4 percent and 7 percent respectively. Russia, Ukraine and Turkey also posted increases but “the impact of the recession was most dramatic in countries like Poland, Hungary, Romania and the Czech Republic where project numbers fell collectively by 40 percent as investors sought the stability of the larger Western economies,” reads the report.

Simona Bazavan