The 2018 report on global flows of foreign direct investment, published by the American consulting firm AT Kearney, promotes Italy, which has returned for the first time since 2004 to the top 10 countries most attractive to foreign investors.
Since 1998, AT Kearney has been analysing investment trends globally, not only on the basis of analytical economic-financial data, but above all taking into account the actual investment decisions of a large number of international operators. For 2018, A.T. Kearney surveyed more than 500 senior executives of the world’s leading corporations in various industries and, based on the data gathered, compiled the FDI Confidence Index, a ranking of the 25 most attractive countries for foreign direct investment for the next three years.
The FDI Confidence Index again sees the United States in first place (this is the sixth consecutive year), followed by Canada and Germany.
The 2018 report, however, makes a special mention of Italy. Specifically, for the first time in more than a decade, our country is back among the top ten most attractive economies for foreign direct investment, gaining three places from the thirteenth to the tenth. Within the EU, Italy ranks after Germany (third), Great Britain (fourth) and France (seventh), but ahead of the Netherlands, Sweden and Spain. This is a significant leap forward for our country, as proof – according to A.T. Kearney – renewed confidence in the Italian economy on the part of foreign investors.
In addition to noting the significant improvement in the economic fundamentals of our country compared to previous years, the report shows that Italy has implemented national policies to boost growth, competitiveness and productivity such as the National Plan ”Industry 4.0” which – according to AT Kearney- has helped to make our country more attractive internationally.