Beyond the US megacities, several second-tier cities – Seattle, Columbus, San Antonio, Minneapolis/St Paul, San Diego and Portland – are in search of FDI to promote their positions on the world stage. Karen E Thuermer discovers how a major new investment initiative could help them find it.

fDi looks at the airport developments around the world that are facilitating economic growth, helping to elevate cities such as Dubai, Istanbul, London and Amsterdam above the competition. 

Private investment in the US rail network is showing that transferring freight movements from road to rail can be both economically and environmentally beneficial in the long term, but applying this logic in Europe, where the rail network has been fragmented by years of state control, is proving more difficult. 

Capable of carrying heavy loads over long distances and requiring relatively little fuel, airships promise an economical and environmentally friendly alternative to existing shipping methods. For the companies working on these aircraft, they represent the future, but some of the prototypes are yet to get off the ground.

With global air traffic forecast to grow in the next few decades, the aerospace industry is gearing up for increased demand, particularly from emerging markets.

Speaking at the US Chamber of Commerce in April, Egypt's minister of finance, Hani Qadri Demian, admitted to weaknesses in the Egyptian economy but said that reforms would be made following the country's elections in May.

Natural resources, namely oil, have fuelled Middle Eastern economies for the past few decades, but the region's location at a meeting point between East and West also gives it a distinct advantage in the logistics field, something many of its countries are cashing in on.