Economic growth in the Western Balkans Particular focus on Foreign Direct Investments and European Union

Abstract

Being that Foreign Direct Investments are considered as a very important tool regarding one country’s economy, the purpose of this thesis is to show the impact of these investments on the Western Balkans economy, in terms of them integrating further on in the European Union. Therefore, this investment form is given a great deal of attention and special economic policies are being undertaken to bring foreign investors closer.

Usually, in the Western Balkans, in most cases, the term globalization is related to Foreign Direct Investments. These countries are aware of the changes taking place in the world economy, and for this reason, they are primarily aimed at attracting Foreign Direct Investment as the optimal path for diversifying the economy and transferring technology. The aim of this thesis is to assess the factors that impact GDP growth, assigning a special importance to FDI inflows in the region.

Considering the transitioning period of these countries as a result of having been communist countries, the investments flowing within their borders are of a great importance as well. Particular attention will be given to the FDI inflows coming from EU zone, in order to emphasize its role in the region; consequently leading to another aim of this research: the one of addressing the issue of the integration of WB countries in the common zone. This will be conducted through a comparison analysis on determining which country is closer to iii

this big step. Under these conditions, increasing the importance of FDI in the world has pushed the governments of these countries towards their promotion.

Most certainly, FDI undoubtedly constitute one of the locomotives of economic development in the Balkan Region. Radical developments have been undertaken to transform the economic structure of our country into a FDI-oriented structure, economic liberalization, creating a more flexible climate and attracting foreign investors. This phenomenon on the other hand, leads to incentives in calling FDIs as a form of modern colonization as well. Controversially, a special attention will be addressed to the phenomenon of FDIs in terms of pointing out the disadvantages accompanied to them and challenging the concept of FDIs, which generally has been spoken out to bring development in the host countries.