May 29 (SeeNews) - Romania is the only country in Southeastern Europe (SEE) included in the top 20 foreign direct investment destinations in Europe for 2016, a survey by global consultancy Ernst&Young (EY) showed.
Romania occupies the 12th place in the ranking, with a total of 132 FDI projects launched in 2016, up 35%, a survey by global consultancy Ernst&Young (EY) showed.
At the same time, Romania, Serbia and Bulgaria are the only SEE countries among the top 20 destinations for foreign direct investment (FDI) job creation for 2016 in Europe, EY said in its Attractiveness Survey for last year.
Romania occupies the fourth position in the ranking, with 17,545 FDI-related jobs opened in 2016, up 38%, while Serbia and Bulgaria rank sixth and 16th, respectively, EY said in its Attractiveness Survey for 2016.
The region of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) attracted nearly half of Europe’s FDI industrial projects in 2016. It has become a favourite among European carmakers, which locate assembly plants in countries such as Slovakia where they find committed, skilled and affordable employees. To ensure just-in-time deliveries and win comparable advantages, many component suppliers also locate new plants in Eastern Europe, EY said.
FDI into Romania increased 18% last year, reaching 4.08 billion euro ($4.56 billion) - the highest value since 2008 when it totalled 9.5 billion euro. On the other hand, the flow of foreign direct investments (FDI) into Bulgaria dropped by 59.7% to 682.8 million euro in 2016.
($ = 0.893733 euro)