In such an uncertain world, investors seem to be looking for the greatest possible insurance. Investor interest in blue-chip countries France and the US rose fastest in February 2008 compared with the previous month, based on the global Google searches in all languages for the phrase “Invest in…”.

Meanwhile, Chinese investors seem to be retrenching. In China, only nine destinations produced enough traction to obtain a listing, and the most popular were close to home. More surprising is the strong showing of ­volatile Georgia and Israel.

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Methodology

These lists have been provided exclusively to fDi by Google. They have been created using Google’s ‘Zeitgeist’ tools, designed to give insight into online search trends. For more information on Google Zeitgeist please visit the website: www.google.com/intl/en/press/zeitgeist/index.html.

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