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If we take into account the UNCTAD FDI Performance Indexes 9 2004-2006,
we find:
FDI front-runners, between them we find Poland and Slovakia, Thailand,
Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom
Below potential countries between them we find Russian Federation and
Slovenia.
Table 2 and the above UNCTAD FDI indexes show for Slovakia, Poland,
Russia and Slovenia therefore, different performances, as far as FDI is concerned.
Slovakia and Poland exhibit a better result than Slovenia and Russia.
These, so different strategic behavior of the four countries, might fit to the
above mentioned historical considerations. But, given these premises, it is
interesting to consider some data showing the transition pattern for the four
countries, after the collapse of the former socialist system, and the results obtained
until now.
As a first consideration, we can say that the transition process was pretty
successful for Slovenia, Slovakia and Poland, which got membership in the
European Union in 2005. At the end of 2007, Slovenia, Slovakia and Poland would
both enter into the Schengen area, but at the beginning of the same year, Slovenia
became also full part of the Euro zone, as the East European forerunner, whereas
Slovakia and Poland were to some extent lagging behind, foreseeing the same
result only in 2009 and after. To some extent, this is in contrast with the data
considering the mere FDI performance: the Euro area membership is important
from an economic point of view, as it implies a very strict adherence to Maastricht
criteria. To that regard, the European Commission is giving no discounts to the
new would be members, as it was possible to see on the case of Lithuania, which
was not admitted to the Euro zone only for some decimal point regarding internal
inflation. It is to say also, that the Commission adopted a looser policy in the past,
if compared to what is happening nowadays. There are old members of the EU,
which still don’t comply to Maastricht criteria completely, but to the new members
a much more restricted gauge has been applied, probably, as a consequence, of the
recent political problems, which the Union had to face.
So, once more, the question materializes: how important is FDI performance
to the overall economic performance of a country?
Our hypothesis is that FDI has often been overstated as a strategic element of
development. In the real situation there are various and complex interplaying
elements, in order to get the result of a country developmental success. FDI is one
of them, but not the only one. Moreover, all the mentioned elements are working li-
9 http://www.unctad.org/Templates/WebFlyer.asp?intItemID=2471&lang=1
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