Foreign Direct Investment in the Balkans: The Case of Albania, FYROM, and Bulgaria

The Balkan transition countries have been much less successful in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) than have the Central European transition countries. Political instability, low intra-regional trade and the small size of national markets are only some of the causes of this FDI gap. Among the more successful Balkan recipients of FDI has been Bulgaria, while Greece has been a major source of FDI for the transition economies of the Balkan region. Greek investment is driven in part by the availability of low cost labor in the nearby transition economies. The article closes by reviewing the policies and FDI patterns of the Balkan transition countries.