Foreign direct investment in Slovenia up 5.4 pct in 2017

YASKAWA Electric

19/10/2018 16:27

LJUBLJANA, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Accumulated foreign direct
investment (FDI) in Slovenia totalled 13.7 billion euros ($15.74
billion) in 2017, or 31.6 percent of GDP, up by 5.4 percent from
the previous year, the country's central bank said on Friday.
    "The largest inflow of foreign direct investment in 2017 was
recorded in manufacturing, financial and insurance activities,"
the bank said in a report.
    It gave no details of specific cases but last year Canadian
car parts maker Magna International  MG.TO  began building a
paint factory in Slovenia while Japan's Yaskawa  6506.T  started
constructing a robot plant - both among the biggest new
investments in the small European Union country.
    The bank's report said the average gross wage in firms with
FDI was 10.1 percent above the national average. It added that
firms in full or partial foreign ownership also had higher
profits and value-added per employee.
    The biggest foreign investors in Slovenia come from Austria,
Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands.
    The southeast European nation is trying to attract more FDI
to increase value-added and productivity, which is 20 percent
below the EU average at present.
 ($1 = 0.8704 euros)

 (Reporting by Marja Novak
Editing by Mark Heinrich)
 ((Marja.Novak@thomsonreuters.com; +386-1-5058805, Reuters
Messaging: marja.novak.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))