Foreign direct investment and the investment climate in South-East Europe

Foreign direct investment (FDI) has played an important role in the restructuring of economies of the new member countries of the European Union. FDI levels in South East Europe (SEE) are much lower than in the CEE countries in transition, what reduces the potential restructuring impact of FDI in SEE. The issue here is, how to strengthen FDI inflows in SEE. Along these lines, the aim of the paper is to analyze the countries of SEE as a location for FDI. In the first section we present the economic situation and trends in SEE countries, which are of specific relevance for investors from abroad. Second section deals with FDI trends and situation in SEE countries while the third section analyses individual elements of investment climate in SEE countries. In section four we argue that EU and regional integration processes in SEE are important for making the region a more attractive location for FDI