- Countries of Eastern and Central Europe: According to the World Investment Directory (Volume VIII: Central and Eastern EUROPE 2003, ISBN 92-1-112584-7), that has just been published by UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development), EU membership of several Central and East European Countries (CEEC) in 2004 will cause a rise in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the region. The new Member States will directly benefit from this investment through approximation of their legal system with EU rules, but the non-member countries will also witness positive changes in this respect due to their "new frontier" status. The directory also gives the result of developments in FDI flows in CEECs since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 until 2002. From the mid-1990s on, the countries of the region experienced a real boom in FDI to reach a total of $27 billion in 2001. The directory especially points out that: a) FDI flows towards the Russian Federation remained regular between 1998 and 2001 with an annual average of $2.8 billion. This level is, however, relatively low given the size of the country and compared to the volume of flow towards other countries of the region. The Russian Federation is also the largest investor of the region since it accounts for over 75% of annual foreign investment of the region; b) Poland is the main country that receives FDI with around $9.3 billion in 2000, i.e. a third of the region's total. Capital flowing into the country has not stopped growing since 1991 (44% per year on average), the strongest progression being recorded in the telecommunications sector; c) in Romania, after years of stagnation at very low levels, FDI flows leapt forward in 1997 and have remained at a high level ever since with $1.1 billion in 2002; d) in Bulgaria, flows began to considerably progress with an average annual growth rate of 45% between 1996 and 2001. The record amount was reached in 2000, with $1 billion, mainly from developed countries; e) Croatia also benefited from a considerable rise in FDI flows at the end of the nineties, i.e. growth of around 30% annually, reaching a level of EUR 750 million in 2001. Nearly half of the FDI stock in the country is concentrated in the financial sector and the transport and communications sectors although the chemical industry represents a significant 18% share. For further information: unpubli@unog.ch; Internet: http: //http://www.un.org ).