Foreign Direct Investment Grows to Almost US$1 Trillion in 2007; UK Remains Europe's Leading Country for FDI

LONDON, February 4/PRNewswire/ --

International cross-border foreign direct investment (FDI)
grew by 5.1 per cent globally to US$947 billion last year according to OCO
Global, the leading authority on foreign investment, who today (Tuesday)
released its global foreign direct investment (FDI) data for 2007.

The statistics show that 11,574 new investment and expansion FDI projects
were announced in 2007 which have the potential to create an estimated at 2.9
million new jobs.

The data covers a period characterised by a number of significant trends
in FDI movements. These include improving US competitiveness, the continuing
success of emerging countries such as China, Russia, and Vietnam in
attracting investment, and a tightening of labour in India.

China retains its 2006 ranking as the top global destination for
multinational investment, attracting 1,171 projects. The associated
investment of US$90 billion however, is down significantly from the US$116
billion recorded the previous year. The country was also number one for jobs,
attracting 366,000 of the estimated 1.2 million new posts created in
Asia-Pacific.

The United States ranked second in 2007 with 783 projects but third
according to the value of associated investment (US$46.8 billion) and sixth
in terms of jobs created (107,141).

India dropped one place to third with 676 projects and from first to
second place according to jobs created (246,361). This figure represents a 45
per cent decrease on the country's performance in 2006 reflecting a
tightening of the local employment market.

In fourth place with 622 projects is the UK, Europe's leading location
for companies expanding their businesses. While that position is unchanged
from the previous year, 2007 saw a marked drop in the estimated value of
investment (US$18.7 billion) and in the number of jobs created (50,000).

London and South East England remains the top UK region for FDI,
attracting more than 300 projects in 2007 which are expected to create almost
15,000 jobs.

Scotland and Northern Ireland meanwhile share joint second place,
attracting some 90 projects with 6,900 and 6,400 associated jobs
respectively.

According to Mark O'Connell, CEO of OCO Global, the latest findings show
that Northern Ireland and Scotland are attracting projects that are three
times larger than those destined for the South East England.

"This demonstrates that investors are drawn not just to proximity to the
London metropolis but also to regions offering a sensible trade-off of skills
availability and reasonable costs," says Mr O'Connell.

"The UK is effectively repositioning itself as a knowledge driven economy
as it can no longer compete at the volume end of the market. As a result,
there is a new promotional emphasis on skills, R&D, regulatory environment
and business opportunities rather than on low costs or incentives.

"The consequence may be fewer but better jobs created by FDI, and some
decline in the overall numbers of projects," he adds.

This trend is mirrored by other leading Western European locations
including France and Germany. Overall, though, investment in Europe continues
to grow, driven largely by Eastern Europe, reaching a record US$291 billion
in 2007. Russia, for the fifth year in a row, remained the leading location
in Europe for investment in terms of job creation and investment. Other
strong European performers featuring in the top 10 ranking include Spain,
Romania and Poland.

Dr Henry Loewendahl, managing director of OCO Global commented:

"With the current financial instability likely to continue for much of
2008, FDI is almost certainly set to become an even more important component
of capital investment and job creation in all regions of the world.

"The challenge for 2008 is to develop a highly competitive and flexible
business environment to attract investment while providing a robust
regulatory framework to provide security and long term economic benefits," Dr
Loewendahl adds.

Notes to Editors

OCO Global derives all its figures from its proprietary OCO
Monitor market(TM) intelligence database which tracks FDI real-time and is
used by Governments and Corporations worldwide. For further information see
http://www.ocomonitor.com

Source: OCO Global

For further information please contact Brian Arlow on +44(0)28-9147-0700 or +44(0)7860-289143

2008-03-03 20:02:21 0303504 PRNEWSWIRE