- Central and Eastern Europe: According to the French daily Le Figaro Economie, Western European businesses are particularly active in Eastern Europe. Investment on the western side accounts in Eastern Europe for nearly 70% of a total of around $120 billion. It is Central Europe that concentrates on the large majority of investment in the region (85%), for which more than two thirds are in a "golden triangle": Poland ($30 billion), which benefits from a strategic positioning towards the East, the Baltic and the South; Hungary ($17 billion), which touches seven countries; and the Czech Republic ($16 billion). Italy has played a pioneering role: this country is the fifth largest investor in Poland and is also very present in Hungary, as well as in Romania with SMEs. France, which came on the scene later, is today the leading investor in Poland as well as in Romania, and the third largest in Hungary. The United Kingdom, although not very adventurous in this region, has established itself there thanks to the multinational companies SHELL and BRITISH TOBACCO. However, the most widely established businesses are those in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, the seven nearest countries. Germany has almost all its investment (85%) in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia. It is also the largest investor in the region with 18% of the total amount ($18 billion) and nearly 30% of European investment. Austria, for its part, was the first to invest in the countries bordering on the former Austrian-Hungarian Empire - Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovenia - especially in the banking sector (KREDIT ANSTALT, ERSTE BANK). The Netherlands are at the origin of this astronomical investment ($12 billion) from many multinationals in this country as they enjoy a very advantageous taxation regime. Such investment is mainly deployed on a diagonal line from the Czech Republic, where investors are the second largest, to Romania. In Slovenia, Austria is the largest investor (40%) ahead of Germany and France. Bulgaria, which is crippled by economic difficulties, is attracting some English, Dutch and German capital. To the north of Europe, the Finnish, Swedish and Danish companies are almost "annexed" to the Baltic countries. They make 62% of their investment in Lithuania, while 71% of investment in Estonia comes from Finland and Sweden. The United States, which has invested $16 billion over ten years in this part of Europe, is relatively absent from the region, which is too remote from the national base (1% of its investment in the world). The US remains, however, the second largest investor in Poland ($5 billion) and Bulgaria. Finally, in the region, there are only a handful of Asian businesses, which are highly aggressive.