There is a huge amount of actual, planned and speculated upon Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) news to report on this month and, as always, we won't have captured it all.

If you know of any FDI we have missed, then let us know on the Forums - it's all relevant, interesting information for investors and commentators alike!

We'll start with Romania this month, where some siginificant news in the finance market should spell good news for investors in the country.

Romania

GE Money, the global consumer-lending unit of General Electric Company, on February 14 unveiled plans to expand by 20 its network of outlets in Romania.

In late 2006, GE Money acquired three companies in Romania - Motoractive Leasing, Estima Finance and Domenia Credit - all of which are now undergoing integration under the GE Money brand. GE Money EMEA President and CEO William H. Cary says the company has ambitious plans for investment into and development of the three businesses owned in Romania. In the short run, investment will be made into their consolidation and further integration, in new distribution channels (including 20 new local outlets), as well as in IT and the development of new products.

GE Money believes Romania's relevant market possesses a huge potential for development and the benefits of its recent accession to the European Union.

Millennium BCP from Portugal is ready to get launched on the Romanian market, with the entry to be a spectacular one, as no less than 40 units will open doors to customers from the very first day. Initially, the Portuguese from the Millennium bank had considered making some alternative acquisitions in Romania, but in the end they chose to invest in building their own units, with the necessary investments to stand around 40 million euros.

Thus, the bank is to have a 40-unit network to have all the necessary equipment from the very first day of the bank on the Romanian market. Millennium has already got (in December 2006) the license from the Romanian National Bank (BNR) to set up the branches in Romania.

The French group Renault has decided to supplement investments in Romania, according to an article published on February 9 by daily Ziarul Financiar.

Specifically, Renault will establish a part of its global marketing, financial, acquisition and customer support activities in Romania, employing several hundred people.

According to Renault president Carlos Ghosn, efforts are made to optimise the activity in Romania, where the group had highly positive results. "We are present with production capacities, a technological centre and we'll also have a service centre," said Carlos Ghosn. The main reason for Renault's decision to supplement investments in Romania is the still low workforce cost.

Dacia president Luc Alexandre Menard considers this advantage will persist for a long time from now on. Evidently wages will rise, yet the edge will remain in place, rendering Romania attractive from this standpoint, Menard said. Renault now outsource a part of their services to Romania. Renault Services Romania will start legally operating in 2007. Renault will continue to invest in the expansion of its production capacity planning to reach 350,000 cars in 2008, up from 220,000 units in 2007.

Other News

Germany's low-cost carrier Germanwings, a division of Lufthansa, will fly to Bucharest starting March 25, Rompre reports. The Koln-Bucharest route will benefit from three flights per week, with a return flight cost starting from EUR 19, charges included. The company has an 890-strong staff and a 24-aircraft fleet - 21 A319 Airbus and three A 320 Airbus.

Romanian new car sales rose 26% in February, driven by a boom in imports as a stronger local currency made foreign models cheaper for Romanians. Sales increased to 18,704 cars in February from 14,887 vehicles a year earlier, according to the Web site of the Bucharest, Romania-based Association of Automobile Producers & Importers.

Sales of imports jumped 74% to 12,210 cars while sales of locally made cars fell 18% to 6,494 units. Romania's currency, the leu, was the second-best performing currency in the world last year after the Slovak koruna, rising 22% against the dollar and 8.9% against the euro. The gain, sparked by an inflow of foreign investment as Romania prepared to join the European Union on January 1, reduced leu-denominated prices of goods brought into the country. Renault SA led the import market in February with sales of 1,907 new cars, the association said. Renault also owns Romanian carmaker Dacia SA, which sold 5,619 new cars in the month.

Some of the most important investment banks in Britain, JP Morgan, Lehman Brothers, Citigroup, Bear Sterns and State Street and Czech company, Wood & Company, have officially entered the Romanian market after the National Securities Commission announced they can act in the local market, Ziarul Financiar daily reported on February 15. Some 20 London companies were granted licenses allowing them to unfold brokerage, assets management and consultancy services (regarding investments in the capital market) in Romania.

Hungary

Axa SA, Europe's second-largest insurer, agreed to buy the Hungarian retail bank Ella Holdings Ltd. for an undisclosed amount, seeking to add clients and expand its product offerings in Eastern Europe. The insurer reached an agreement with Ella Holdings Ltd. and its main shareholder Royalton Capital Investors for the purchase of 100% of the Hungarian retail bank, Paris-based Axa SA announced on the 19th March. "The acquisition of Ella, a young and dynamic bank, will accelerate our development in the very promising Hungarian market."

Hochtief AG, Germany's biggest construction company, and its partners won European antitrust approval in March to buy Budapest airport after refilling the application because of a change in one of the buyers. Hochtief AG agreed to buy a 75% stake with its partners in Budapest Ferihegy International Airport from BAA Plc in October, less than a year after losing out in a bidding contest for Hungary's largest hub. Hochtief founded its airport division in 1997, in part to take advantage of increasing passenger numbers and pension funds' appetites for the steady returns airfields can generate.

Under the previous purchase plan, Hochtief was to own 50% of the airfield, with its partners Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, Canada's largest pension-fund manager, and Germany's state-owned development bank Kfw owning the rest of the stake and the Hungarian government owning the remaining 25%.

Czech Republic

Hyundai Motor plans to open a $1 billion car factory in the Czech Republic in 2008, following the opening of a Kia plant in Slovakia late last year. The carmaker last week unveiled the i30 compact hatchback, which is specifically designed for the European market, according to the company. The carmaker plans to sell 78,000 i30s this year, including 72,000 units for exports to Europe and other regions.

Estonia

In the pipeline

The Port of Tallinn, the largest in the Baltics, has announced that it was considering the construction of a new passenger terminal in the vicinity of the old port, while the CEO said he has met with leading international port operators to tell them of opportunities at the port.

Latvia

The multi-profile business group Ventspils Nafta announced last week that it was selling 49 percent of its oil-based subsidiary, Ventspils Nafta Terminals, to the Vitol Group, a major international oil trader. Latvia's Competition Council has approved the deal, which will help Vitol consolidate its foothold in the Baltic state's oil transit business, which has struggled since Russia ceased delivering crude via pipeline in 2003. The size of the deal was not disclosed.

Poland

Procter & Gamble (P&G) has applied to the Ł?378; Special Economic Zone (LSEZ) to build a factory in Aleksandr?n the Ł?378; province. The planned investment is for approx. 157 million PLN. This will result in at least 200 new jobs being created. The company plans to build a modern cosmetics factory and construction of the factory is to begin this year. It is to be completed by 2008.

Bulgaria

Mercury Group has received planning for their BulgariaMall investment project valued at EUR 80 million. The shopping mall that will open doors in 2009 on Bulgaria Blvd. near Billa hypermarket will consist of 25,000 sq m shopping areas & 20,000 sq m offices, cinemas, restaurants, fast food outlets and parking lots.

Ferry Energy Ltd., a subsidiary of the Spanish holding FERRY GROUP, announced an investment of 42m EURO creating 277 permanent jobs. The project includes growing trees for biomass production and processing vegetal by-products for receiving ecological fuel to be used in thermo power plants. The manufacturing activity will be organized in the region of the town of Trun; some other regions have been currently explored too. Fast-growing trees of the Paulownia genus, suitable for biomass production, will be grown.

Spanish bathroom suites manufacturer Roca will spend 30 million euros on the construction of another plant in Kaspichan

Some other news: FDI Results for 2006

February 2007, Bulgarian National Bank announced that Bulgaria received EUR 4.015 billion foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2006. FDI achieved in 2006 accounts for 16.6% of GDP 73% more than 2005 which amounted to 10.8% of GDP.

52.3% is the share of the equity capital in 2006 FDI. Real Estate sales income accounts for 54% of the equity capital.

Real estate, Landlord Activities and Business Services have the largest share in 2006 FDI - EUR 1,210.7 million, followed by the Processing Industry with EUR 776.6 million, Financial Intermediation - EUR 627.2 million, Trade & Repair - EUR 421.6 million and Construction - EUR 400.4 million. The foreign investments in Real estate, Landlord Activities and Business Services have increased 2.6 times compared to 2005. At the same time, FDI in Construction has more than doubled. Among the processing industries, Metallurgy & Metal Products Manufacture has attracted the largest amount of FDI - nearly 10% of 2006 total FDI.

The UK was the biggest investor in 2006 with EUR 686 million or 17.1% of total FDI, followed by the Netherlands with EUR 668 million and Austria with EUR 448 million. As of the end of 2006, Austria ranked first in terms of FDI stock in Bulgaria, followed by the Netherlands, Greece, the UK and Germany.

Slovakia

Marks & Spencer, the UK clothing retailer, will commence operations on the Slovak market as of March 2007. Its first outlet, a franchise operated by MSF Slovakia, will open in the Avion Shopping Park mall in Bratislava. A second store is likely to be launched in 2009 in the Eurovea mall in the same city, according to Marketing & Media.

The Korean electronics firm Samsung is to build a new Ř 400 million factory in Slovakia as part of the first large foreign investment the Robert Fico government has attracted since taking power last year, and the third-largest that the country has ever won.

The Dell computer company has opened new premises in Bratislava that promise to provide the city with 600 new jobs.

Commentary

Signs that international finance companies are betting heavily on the Romanian market's future growth is very encouraging. This should give investors further confidence in the Romanian property market and that it can only be a positive step for the mortgage market in Romania.

Hungary continues to attract significant amounts of FDI, yet curiously the economy is still in trouble and the property market is oversupplied and without any capital growth, so our recommendation is to steer well clear of the Hungarian property market for the foreseeable future.

Overall Eastern Europe continues to attract a large portion of the world's FDI, this can only be positive for local jobs and ultimately their property markets. The key is to figure out exactly where you should be putting your hard earned cash - see the Property Secrets 2007 Price Growth Forecast for our opinions.