As the physical home of the conserved 16th-century warship the Mary Rose, and the spiritual home of the UK navy, Portsmouth's prospects seem inextricably linked to the sea. However, with billions of pounds coming into the city in development grants, its future is looking assured on dry land and beyond.

Iceland's economic meltdown of 2008 made the country synonymous with the global recession at the time. However, with a cautious recovery now under way – thanks in no small part to a tourism boom – there is a determination in the country to ensure that this growth is better balanced, and it is looking to foreign investment to achieve this.

Within the space of two years, Cyprus has gone from being one of Europe's crisis countries to now having many causes for optimism, with its banks back in international favour and the island's tourism market showing a marked uptick.

Ragnheiður Elín Árnadóttir, Iceland's minister of industry and commerce, tells Courtney Fingar about how the country is fighting back after its very public financial crash, and looks ahead to its capital controls being lifted.

The world is seeing a return to growth in greenfield FDI, according to the latest findings from the fDi report, but while some areas surge ahead, others are seeing hesitant growth or even a decline.

Far from the Kremlin's corridors of power, Russia's second-tier cities are striving to transform themselves. fDi looks at how the Russian cities of Tomsk, Rostov-on-Don and Tula are trying to attract investors amid geopolitical uncertainty in the region.