The fDi Magazine, a Financial Times publication specializing in international investment, has revealed the results of the 2022/23 edition of the “European Cities and Regions of the Future” ranking. The Municipality of Porto saw its strategy of attracting foreign investment distinguished, winning 3rd place in the “FDI strategy – Mid-sized Cities” category.
During the ceremony, the most recent trends in Europe were under analysis, from which should be highlighted the fact that last year 61% of the global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) was happening “intra-Europe”. As a matter of fact, Europe captured 47,6% of the FDI in the past two years, followed by Asia Pacific with less than 20%, and then North America.
Another interesting topic of discussion lies on the fact that the top sector was renewable energy(overtaking oil and gas), attracting 70 billion euros in Europe. In this sense, the fDi magazine data shows that 2021 was the year of Hydrogen, with the number of projects rising from 13 in 2020, to 68 in 2021.
FDI attraction in Europe, what’s next?
The 3rd place in the “FDI strategy – Mid-sized Cities” category result reflects the priority that the Municipality of Porto attaches to economic dynamism and job creation by attracting foreign companies and investors to Porto. The municipal strategy is led by InvestPorto, a municipal division specializing in the promotion and facilitation of direct investment. Since its creation in 2015, InvestPorto has already contributed to attracting more than 1,700 million euros in investment and to the creation of more than 18 thousand new jobs in Porto.
Innovation, and more specifically Data-driven online mapping tools were identified as fundamental for placing the cities in the investors’ radar. On this matter Pedro Baganha, councilor for Urbanism and Public Space and Housing at the Porto City Council comments that “these digital tools have several advantages: firstly, real-time information, which is essential for investors to know what is happening in the city, and also for the municipality to manage its territory in real time; and on the other hand, from a marketing point of view, it becomes much more appealing to show the history and evolution of the city in a dynamic way that other more classic methods cannot guarantee. Therefore, we consider it essential to invest in these tools for our international positioning”.