UNCTAD report shows Poland way behind in securing FDI

According to a UNCTAD report on the flow of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), they amounted to $651 billion globally in 2002, which was half that of the year before. Poland did not avoid the fate of 108 countries which recorded a drop in the value of FDIs last year. They amounted to $4.1 billion, which was $1.6 billion less than in 2001. Meanwhile, Central and Eastern Europe recorded a 15% growth in the value of investments to reach $29 billion. The unquestionable leader remained the Czech Republic, which received FDI of $9.3 billion. "The Czechs have beaten us, while we feel the breath of the Slovaks on our backs," commented Andrzej Zdebski, the president of the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIIZ). Maciej Reluga, an economist with BZ WBK, stated that according to estimates the region should receive $30 billion in 2004 and Poland must try harder to receive a bigger piece of the cake. (Puls Biznesu, p. 8) M.M.