The Mediterranean countries "have confirmed their lasting foothold on the international investors' map" but the results are still not enough, writes the consortium of business support organisations, ANIMA, in a report on this subject published on 24 November.
These countries "can be congratulated on attracting ever more foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in strategic sectors for the region: software, automobiles, medicines, agri-food, renewable energy, transport and logistics" despite "the financial and economic crises and Arab Springs". They have, according to the report, "attracted 2-3% of world foreign investment over the course of the decade from 2006 to 2015, compared with 1% in 2000.
Good but not sufficient. "The level of FDI remains below the performance that the region could expect, compared with the weight of its GDP or its population", ANIMA notes. It adds that "despite the many reforms that have improved the business environment, the performance of these countries is not up to expectations: not enough investment or value creation and, ultimately, not enough job creation".
The performance of each country varies: Israel and Turkey share first prize, according to the report. Coming in second place are two countries from north Africa, Egypt and Morocco, "respectively the second and fifth most attractive African countries in 2015". In proportion to their wealth (FDI/GDP and FDI/population relationships), Jordan and Lebanon would be "the best performing in the region", but are victims of regional instability.
As regards the origin of the investments, Europe "is in the lead, with nearly half the FDI projects announced in 10 years, but strong challengers have emerged and are gaining ground, with the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and Asia in the lead", ANIMA states. (Original version in French by Fathi B’Chir)