France: According to the provision Banque de France statistics, direct foreign investments (FDI) fell 36% to 36.6 billion EUR in France in 2003. France is apparently now no longer the fourth largest host country of FDI, behind the United States, Luxembourg and China, having been second in 2002 with 56.8 billion EUR. French foreign investments also fell, by 26% to 48.6 billion EUR. The same statistics show that only Belgium, the United Kingdom and the United States have made progress, as host countries for foreign investments, with Italy remaining stable and other countries recording falls. Germany, in particular, only hosted 10.5 billion EUR compared to 35.6 in 2002. Ireland: Fluctuations in FDI in Ireland more than doubled in 2002 compared to the previous year, rising from 9.7 billion dollars to 24.4 billion, putting the State in the world top ten host countries for FDI, according to UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development). Three quarters of FDI came from EU countries, and this performance is all the more impressive given that very few other countries can claim to have made this kind of progress, against the general downward trend in 2001-2002 throughout the world. These data refer only to 2002, and no figures for 2003 are yet available. Russia: FDI in Russia rose 70% in 2003 after a long period of stagnation, but their level remains low compared to that of most eastern European countries, according to statistics published by the State Committee on Statistics. These investments reached 6.8 billion dollars compared to just over 4 billion in 2002. The agro-food industry and distribution remain the main destination for foreign capital. The Minister for Economic Development acknowledged that FDI remain "insufficient", and that "painstaking" reforms must be brought in to maintain the pace of growth and attract investors.