fDi in the News

September 

15th September 2014

DAFZA is Ranked First Globally by the Financial Times' fDi Magazine

Considered the only reputed Free Zones Rankings around the globe, fDi Magazine rankings are based on several criteria such as outstanding perfor­mance, growth and expansion plans, and presence of high growth industries." Dr. Al Zarooni added "The key objective of participating in the Global Free Zones Ranking is to benchmark our performance with the world renowned Free Zones and determine our position in the Free Zones world map."

August

August 1st 2014

Mauritius ranks in top 5 source countries for outbound FDI in Middle East & Africa

This clearly demonstrates the success of the island economy’s efforts in positioning itself as a preferred financial hub for investments into Africa, as well as Asia. The Financial Times released the fDi Report 2014 in its fDi intelligence publication to show an overall increase in projects out of Middle East and Africa, such that FDI grew 21.81% over 2012 to reach a total of USD 48.02 billion. However, project numbers and job creation declined by 11.54% and 26.41% respectively. The UAE remained the leading country in the MEA region for outward FDI with USD 14.68 billion capital investment accounting for 30.56% market share, followed by Kuwait with USD 10.73 billion capital investment and 22.35% market share.

July

July 21st 2014

FDI into western Europe declined between March and May 2014

fDi Markets says that in March, 228 foreign companies invested in 254 projects in western Europe, spending $11.34bn and creating 20,458 jobs. In April, the number of new projects dropped to 249 by 217 companies, and continued to fall to 188 projects by 164 companies in May. Capital investment dipped to $5.63bn in April, down 50.4% from March. There was a slight rise in May, with a capital investment of $6.21bn.

June 

June 11th 2014

Budapest hits the top of fdi charts as hungarys economy strengthens

Washington along with her appreciation for increased investment from the U.S. as well as from Germany and Russia. Instead of having to take her word for it, the dozen attendees at a breakfast meeting at the World Trade Center Atlanta in Buckhead learned that the Financial Times Group’s fDi Magazine named Budapest, Hungary’s capital, as the most attractive Central and Eastern European city for foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2014. Wroclaw and Katowice, Poland, were ranked second and third in the category.

June 10th 2014

Financial Times’ FDi Magazine recognises Jafza the Best Free Zone in the Middle East for large multinationals

Salma Ali Saif Bin Hareb, CEO of Economic Zones World and Jafza, commenting on the fDi awards said: “We are delighted to be recognized as fDi Free Zone of the Year 2014 for “Large Tenants” – Middle East and North Africa, as well as, fDi Free Zone of the Year 2014 for “Large Tenants” – United Arab Emirates. The awards reaffirm Jafza’s unique position as the most favoured investment destination for large multinationals across the world. I attribute Jafza’s remarkable achievements to our most committed and efficient team that continues to help Jafza maintain its invincible leadership status today and the times to come.” 

June 9th 2014

DMCC Free Zone leads the way for MENA and UAE SMEs

Dubai, UAE; 9 June 2014: DMCC , the Government of Dubai Authority with a mandate to enhance Dubai's position as a global gateway for commodity trade and enterprise, has been named by fDi Magazine as Free Zone of the Year for SMEs - Middle East & Africa and Free Zone of the Year for SMEs - UAE in their Middle East Free Zones of the Year rankings and awards for 2014 / 2015.

May 

May 29th 2014

KenInvest puts 9-month investor inflow at Sh90 billion 

It now wants the law establishing the authority's amended to compel all new foreign businesses to register with it to ensure close and timely monitoring of trends in underperforming foreign direct investments. He said it was “tricky” to track FDI inflows, a situation that has forced it to subscribe to fDi Intelligence–a London based bimonthly magazine. The Magazine's data puts Kenya's FDI inflows year to date at Sh29.97 billion($341.2 million).

May 22nd 2014

Illinois falls as a destination for foreign investment

Ontario, Texas, California, Quebec and Louisiana took the top five slots for attracting "greenfield investment," or new projects or major investments by foreign investors, according to the fDi Report, an annual assessment based on the fDi Markets database of the Financial Times. The report ranked states by the amount of capital investment, rather than number of projects, as had been the case in previous years. So they are not apples-to-apples comparisons to 2012 and 2011, when Illinois was No. 8 and No. 9, respectively.

May 19th 2014

Africa’s 15 hottest investment zones

10. Tangier-Tetouan, Morocco
Tangier, a city in northern Morocco, is home to the Tangier Free Zone which was ranked in sixth position in fDi Intelligence’s Global Free Zones of the Future 2012/13. “An extended metropolitan region is growing around Tangier, which has become North Africa’s largest container port.”

11. Algiers, Algeria
Algiers is a province in Algeria and holds the country’s capital of the same name. EY ranks the area in 11th position in Africa, with a share of 1.9% of FDI projects between 2007 and 2013.

May 7th 2014

Ireland in top 10 for global FDI inflows in 2013 -- it's nothing to brag about

fDi Intelligence, a unit of the Financial Times, provides project data to UNCTAD and in respect of 2012 it put the level of new projects (in respect of existing firms and new) at 812 in the UK and 147 in Ireland. The chart here shows that jobs in FDI exporting firms in Ireland in 2013 were below the level in 2000 -- 13 years ago -- despite a 22% rise in the overall size of the workforce.

May 6th 2014

The benefits of doing business in free zones in Serbia

fDi Intelligence, the largest centre for assessing foreign direct investments worldwide, has ranked two Serbian free zones, Pirot and Zrenjanin, 41st and 48th respectively on the list of 50 most attractive zones for foreign direct investments in the world. How do free zones in Serbia operate in practice? If you ever find yourself in a free zone, this should be immediately apparent to you, as it must be clearly marked as a free zone, particularly at entrances and exits, and river-side as well, if the zone has river access.

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