Greece lagging in FDI among EU-Med countries

Greece accounted for just 60, or 0.56 percent, of 10,660 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in seven Mediterranean countries between 2011 and 2015, according to a study conducted by EY.

According to the research, the USA was the most common source of FDI for Greece. It accounted for 15 projects, followed by Germany with six. The sectors that attracted most FDI were software (eight projects) and professional services (eight projects).

In contrast to Greece, during the period in question, the six other Mediterranean countries, which are also European Union member-states, managed to attract higher levels of investment. Between 2011 and 2015, they attracted 406 billion dollars, with FDI rising by 16 percent in that time.

“Unfortunately, as other EY research has shown, Greece was not able to attract much of this investment,” said Tassos Iosifidis, Head of Transaction Advisory Services at EY Greece.

“For Greece to secure the place it deserves on the investment map, it needs political stability, improvements to education, better infrastructure, more use of new technologies, immediate tackling of liquidity problems and, above all, a stable and attractive tax framework.”