China was rated as the most attractive business destination with 47 per cent votes followed by Central Europe (42 per cent) and Western Europe (33 per cent). The US and Russia was preferred by 21 per cent. Termed as "an open world", the European attractiveness survey sought to identify the prospects of alternative business locations and the criteria that drive the perceptions of the respondents.
According to E&Y, the survey findings underscored that the most important driving force for foreign direct investors is to access new markets and as Europe's economy slows, investors are increasingly looking to thriving economies and competitiveness elsewhere. "The survey findings further highlighted that business leaders today see the investment world as multi-polar, with destinations such as China, India, Russia and the West Asia. These relatively recent global players now present really viable competition to the developed world in the eyes of potential investors in search of investment locations", it stated.
"The world is becoming a level playing field when it comes to businesses' perceptions of their cross-border investment options," said Marc Lhermitte, Partner, Ernst & Young, France, who led the European attractiveness survey.
"The developed markets of Western Europe and the US are being challenged by competing equals. As they look ahead, businesses are chasing growth through Asian consumers' spending power, but Europe and the US still remain vastly diversified and powerful markets."
Nearly half of European businesses are still developing their activities across European borders. Investors confirm that they will continue to consider projects in Europe in the near future, while also developing complex, longer-term investment projects in Asia Overall, 47 per cent of business leaders plan to develop activities in Europe, though 16 per cent say they will relocate all or part of their activities outside the region. 22 per cent respondents voted India as the second preferred global location for relocating projects following China which was the most favoured destination with 36 per cent votes.
The suvery also found 21 per cent investors voting India as one of the top three most innovative countries ahead of UK, France, Finland and Sweden. US with 50 per cent votes and China with 34 per cent votes stand out in investors' minds as the most innovative countries followed by Germany & Japan with 31 per cent and 29 per cent respectively. The high ranking of China, along with Japan and India, places Asia at the top of the main geographical zones for its level of innovation.
