Economics and Trade Ministers of 8 SEE countries signed off on a statement, which will grant foreign investors the same status and protection domestic investors enjoy. Ministers also agreed to reduce red tape, to let foreign investors buy real estate for the purpose of investment and ease procedures for obtaining work and residency permits for key personnel. These activities are part of the Stability Pact’s Investment Compact, steered by the OECD, Romania and Austria, who hosted the event in Vienna.

Basing themselves on successful experiences in some other emerging countries, Ministers welcomed the support of OECD and the Stability Pact to establish Foreign Investors Councils in interested SEE countries, in order to establish a direct link between investors and the Governmental Investment Promotion Agencies, and to be able to voice concerns of the investors on a practical level.

Private sector development, and especially Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), is essential for sustainable economic development in South East Europe. The region in recent years has improved as an investment destination and had annual FDI inflows of approx. 3.3 billion Euro in recent years (incl. projected for 2003), according to a recent EBRD report. However, compared with Central Europe and the Baltics, the countries of SEE have been less successful in attracting FDI and the investment climate remains challenging.

"Investors clearly look at the region as a whole," Special Co-ordinator Busek said in commenting the signing, “within the Stability Pact, the negotiations of 21 agreements for establishing free trade amongst SEE countries were completed in February 2003. By jointly promoting SEE as an investment destination and improving the framework, countries are visibly starting to promote the new opportunities offered by free trade. In this context, the regular exchanges with the private sector, as agreed today, are absolutely essential”.

The Investment Compact (IC) was adopted in February 2000 and comprises all the investment promotion activities within the Stability Pact.

Annex: Speech by Special Co-ordinator Busek