Investors favour Paris

AN ERNST & Young survey shows Paris has overtaken London as Europe’s most attractive destination for foreign investors. The change in the continent’s pecking order is a sign of the impact of Brexit and the “Macron effect”. The French capital was ranked No 1 for foreign direct investment by 37 percent of businesses, based on a survey of 502 companies and data from EY and IBM covering 2017. Britain remained Europe’s top destination for foreign direct investment in 2017, with 1 205 of the 6 653 new FDI projects in Europe, ahead of Germany’s 1 124 projects and France’s 1 019 projects. France was up 31 percent while investment in Britain was 6 percent higher than in 2016. – Reuters/African News Agency (ANA)