Competitiveness - Competitiveness and Attractiveness

Competitiveness and Attractiveness

From a Foreign Direct Investment perspective, economic competitiveness is a reflection of country attractiveness. There are multiple factors determining host country attractiveness in the eyes of large institutional investors, notably pension funds and sovereign wealth funds. Research conducted by the World Pensions Council (WPC) suggests that perceived legal/political stability over time and medium-term economic growth dynamics constitute the two main determinants

Some development economists believe that a sizeable part of Western Europe has now fallen behind the most dynamic amongst Asia’s emerging nations, notably because the latter adopted policies more propitious to long-term investments: “Successful countries such as Singapore, Indonesia and South Korea still remember the harsh adjustment mechanisms imposed abruptly upon them by the IMF and World Bank during the 1997-1998 ‘Asian Crisis’ What they have achieved in the past 10 years is all the more remarkable: they have quietly abandoned the “Washington consensus” by investing massively in infrastructure projects this pragmatic approach proved to be very successful.”