Download or read book Spain Investment Climate Statement 2015 written by United States United States Department of State and published by . This book was released on 2015-06-17 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spain is open and seeking to attract additional foreign investment, particularly to help spur recovery from its recent economic crisis. Spain's well-educated work force, excellent infrastructure, large domestic market, and export possibilities have attracted foreign companies in large numbers over the past three decades. Spanish law permits foreign ownership in investments up to 100 percent, and capital movements are completely liberalized. In 2014, gross new foreign direct investment reached EUR 17.626 billion, with the six main investors in Spain being the United States, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, France, Mexico, and the Netherlands. This investment focused particularly on activities related to real estate, finance and insurance, manufacturing and sales.Spain emerged from its recession in the third quarter of 2013. Even with a high unemployment rate - 23.7 percent as of the first quarter of 2015 - and significant household and public indebtedness, the economy continued to recover in 2014 and has benefited from a resurgence in domestic consumption. The government attributes this turn-around in part to the economic reforms it implemented beginning in 2012, the largest in the country's democratic history, which streamlined budgets and loosened labor laws to make hiring and firing easier. As part of this effort, the government sharply curbed public spending, which helped stabilize the fiscal situation. Major economic imbalances have been corrected, and competitiveness and flexibility are being restored.The government also implemented a series of labor market reforms and the restructuring of the banking system, all measures aimed at improving the efficiency in the allocation of resources, the full effects of which were visible by the end of 2014. To avoid the fragmentation of the domestic market emerging from differences of central, regional and local regulation, the 2013 Market Unity Guarantee Act was adopted. The law aims to rationalize the regulatory framework for economic activities, eliminating duplicative administrative controls by implementing a single license system that facilitates the free flow of goods and services throughout Spain. Spain has regained access to affordable financing from international financial markets, which has improved Spain's credibility and solvency, in turn generating more investor confidence. However, the Spanish government has yet to improve access to financing for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which still suffer from an important credit crunch.In implementing its fiscal consolidation program, the government has taken actions which negatively affect U.S. and other investors in the renewable energy sector on a retroactive basis. As a result, Spain is facing several international arbitration claims. Spain is a member of both the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID Convention) and the 1958 Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York Convention). Spanish law protects property rights and those of intellectual property. The government has amended the Intellectual Property Act, the Civil Procedure Law, and the Penal Code to strengthen online protection. Still, internet piracy has continued to increase over the past several years.Spain and the United States have a Friendship, Navigation and Commerce (FCN) Treaty, and a Bilateral Taxation Treaty (1990), which was subsequently amended in 2013 and went into force in December of 2014.

Download or read book Multiple Country Investment Climate Statement 2015 written by United States United States Department of State and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-03-25 with total page 446 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Part 2 includes the Investment Climate Statement 2015 for the following countries: Indonesia, Kosovo, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malawi, Mexico, Mongolia, Oman, Poland, Republic of the Congo, Slovenia, Spain, The Netherlands, Venezuela, West Bank and Gaza.

Download or read book Poland written by United States United States Department of State and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-06-17 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the twenty-six years since Poland discarded communism and the eleven years since it joined the European Union (EU), Poland's investment climate has improved steadily and is highly conducive to U.S. investment. Since 2007, Poland's economy has grown by almost 24 percent compared with the EU average growth at 0.6 percent. In 2014, Poland was an EU leader in consumption and investment growth. Poland outperformed other EU member states throughout the global economic crisis. Poland's strong prospects for future growth will likely continue to attract new investors seeking access not just to its dynamic local market of over 38 million people, but also to the broader EU market of nearly 500 million. Foreign investors also cite Poland's young, well-educated, and relatively low-cost work force as a major reason to invest. Other factors making Poland an attractive investment destination are its proximity to major markets and its political stability. The volume of U.S. investment in Poland amounts to around USD 20 billion, taking into account the amounts routed through U.S. subsidiaries in other countries. That makes the United States one of the largest foreign investors in Poland. Poland has worked to establish a solid legal foundation and tax regime conducive to investment. The government continues to focus on streamlining regulation and bureaucratic processes to make doing business easier. However, U.S. investors express increased concern over regulatory, legal and investment environment uncertainty, particularly in the energy sector. Poland is in the process of consolidating its overall energy policy. Foreign investors are increasingly skeptical of interactions with state owned or affiliated energy enterprises as well. The government seeks to expand the economy by encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation through the use of domestic and European Union funding (EU Structural and Cohesion funds, as well as EU Horizon 2020 program funds) to support scientific research, technological development, and innovation. There are growing opportunities for foreign direct investment (FDI) in a number of Polish sectors. In services, business process outsourcing of accounting, legal, and information technology services, as well as research and development, is Poland's fastest-growing sector, and will continue to attract FDI. The defense industry is another promising sector, as Poland prepares to spend up to USD 45 billion through 2022 on military modernization, and will look for domestic production and technology transfer opportunities in awarding tenders. There are also opportunities for FDI in the energy sector (nuclear, renewables and natural gas) as Poland seeks to diversify its energy mix, and in information infrastructure as Poland implements its plan to connect all Polish households to the internet by 2020. Other issues for investors to watch besides energy sector consolidation include developments in neighboring Ukraine. Further turmoil in Ukraine and disruptions in trade relations with Russia could reduce Poland's GDP growth for 2015 (projected at approximately 3.4 percent) by about 0.1-0.2 of a percentage point. To mitigate the impact of the Ukrainian crisis, Polish companies have diversified their export markets and taking advantage of rising domestic demand to expand sales in Poland. They are likely to continue foreign and domestic expansion in 2015.

Download or read book Slovenia Investment Climate Statement 2015 written by United States United States Department of State and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-03-24 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Several key factors make Slovenia an attractive location for foreign direct investment (FDI), including: modern infrastructure with access to main EU transportation corridors, a major port on the Adriatic Sea, a highly-educated and professional work force, close proximity to Central/Southeastern European and EU markets, and membership in the EU and Eurozone. However, potential investors in Slovenia have faced challenges including a lack of transparency in economic and commercial decision-making, unclear tender processes, and at times an inconsistent taxation and regulatory structure. EU member states are the biggest investors in Slovenia. Together they account for over 80 percent of all inward investment in Slovenia. The share of inward FDI stock in GDP in 2013 in Slovenia stood at 25 percent. Nevertheless, foreign companies are an important factor to Slovenia's economy. In 2013, they accounted for 19.2 percent of capital, 22.7 percent of assets and 22.1 percent of employees in the entire corporate sector. Their capital and workforce generated 29.4 percent of total net sales revenue and 28.0 percent of total operating profit. Foreign companies accounted for 39.5 percent of exports and 45.2 percent of imports by the Slovenian corporate sector. Sectors of the economy that are most successful in attracting FDI to Slovenia include manufacturing, especially metal products, electrical and optical equipment (in particular production of components for electronic and automotive industry), chemical products and products from plastic materials, paper, pharmaceuticals, rubber, wholesale, retail, and financial and business consultancy. An annual survey of foreign companies in Slovenia, conducted by the Slovenian Public Agency for the Promotion of Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Development, Investment and Tourism (SPIRIT Slovenia), indicates the most decisive factors for choosing Slovenia as a location for investment are the high quality production of export goods, the high skills and expertise of the labor force, prospects for long-term relationships with local customers and suppliers, market access (mostly for services), and geographic position.

Download or read book Capital Markets and Portfolio Investment written by and published by Indonesia National Development Information Office. This book was released on 1996 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Shock Waves written by Stephane Hallegatte and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2015-11-23 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ending poverty and stabilizing climate change will be two unprecedented global achievements and two major steps toward sustainable development. But the two objectives cannot be considered in isolation: they need to be jointly tackled through an integrated strategy. This report brings together those two objectives and explores how they can more easily be achieved if considered together. It examines the potential impact of climate change and climate policies on poverty reduction. It also provides guidance on how to create a “win-win†? situation so that climate change policies contribute to poverty reduction and poverty-reduction policies contribute to climate change mitigation and resilience building. The key finding of the report is that climate change represents a significant obstacle to the sustained eradication of poverty, but future impacts on poverty are determined by policy choices: rapid, inclusive, and climate-informed development can prevent most short-term impacts whereas immediate pro-poor, emissions-reduction policies can drastically limit long-term ones.

Download or read book Argentina written by United States United States Department of State and published by . This book was released on 2016-03-21 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Argentina is one of Latin America's largest and wealthiest countries, possessing abundant human and natural resources, highly-diversified industries, and a 43 million person market. Argentina is estimated to have the world's second largest shale gas resources and fourth largest shale oil resources in the world. Investors face a difficult operating environment (e.g. currency and price controls, import restrictions, and double-digit inflation), but are more optimistic with regard to the medium- to long-term in Argentina. Argentina is still dealing with issues related to its 2001 default on nearly USD 100 billion in debt, the largest sovereign debt default in history. In late 2013 and early 2014, the government of Argentina (GOA) made some progress in normalizing its relations with the international financial community. The GOA settled several outstanding international arbitral awards, engaged with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to improve economic reporting data, and compensated the Spanish firm Repsol for the partial expropriation of YPF in 2012. Argentina also signed bilateral agreements to repay nearly USD 10 billion in arrears with the Paris Club group of creditors. Argentina's refusal to comply with a U.S. court ruling ordering the GOA to pay a group of U.S. creditors who sued the country for the full value of their defaulted Argentine bond holdings continues to restrict Argentina's ability to service some of its sovereign debt both at home and abroad. Argentina's limited access to international financial markets will continue to discourage investment until the issue is settled. Longstanding concerns regarding the lack of transparency in government policymaking also diminish the attractiveness of prospective investments in Argentina. Decisions that affect both foreign and domestic companies are frequently made without industry input and are rarely open to a consultation period. GOA actions to curb the remittance of profits abroad limit foreign companies' ability to repatriate earnings, causing some companies to reconsider locating new business ventures in Argentina. Currency controls delay companies' access to dollars to pay suppliers while recently amended laws allow the GOA to set profit margins and the prices of goods in the private sector in certain circumstances. Businesses and investors also report concerns about Argentina's currency exchange rate policies, which affect the competitiveness of Argentine goods internationally and delay investment decisions. The World Trade Organization (WTO) in January 2015 ruled that the GOA's all-encompassing import licensing system violated international trade norms. The GOA affirmed that it will comply with the WTO decision, but did not specify a timeframe for adjustment. In the meantime, the system remains in place and reportedly causes shortages and complicates the operations of businesses that are reliant on the importation of goods for production and distribution. Factories and distributors occasionally sit idle while the GOA delays granting approval to move inputs through customs, a process that can be restrictive and unpredictable. In 2014, in accordance with official figures, Argentina's economic growth slowed to 0.5 percent and unemployment remained steady at 6.9 percent. Private sources reported that the economy contracted about 2 percent and inflation reached 38 percent in 2014. Central Bank international reserve levels ended 2014 around USD 30 billion, a slight improvement from the previous year despite the GOA running current and financial account deficits in 2014. Some private economists contend that liquid reserves are actually lower. Argentina's trade surplus, the country's main source of foreign currency, fell nearly 17 percent in 2014 compared with the previous year.

Download or read book Doing Business 2020 written by World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2019-11-21 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seventeen in a series of annual reports comparing business regulation in 190 economies, Doing Business 2020 measures aspects of regulation affecting 10 areas of everyday business activity.

Download or read book Managing Climate Risk in the U S Financial System written by Leonardo Martinez-Diaz and published by U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission . This book was released on 2020-09-09 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This publication serves as a roadmap for exploring and managing climate risk in the U.S. financial system. It is the first major climate publication by a U.S. financial regulator. The central message is that U.S. financial regulators must recognize that climate change poses serious emerging risks to the U.S. financial system, and they should move urgently and decisively to measure, understand, and address these risks. Achieving this goal calls for strengthening regulators’ capabilities, expertise, and data and tools to better monitor, analyze, and quantify climate risks. It calls for working closely with the private sector to ensure that financial institutions and market participants do the same. And it calls for policy and regulatory choices that are flexible, open-ended, and adaptable to new information about climate change and its risks, based on close and iterative dialogue with the private sector. At the same time, the financial community should not simply be reactive—it should provide solutions. Regulators should recognize that the financial system can itself be a catalyst for investments that accelerate economic resilience and the transition to a net-zero emissions economy. Financial innovations, in the form of new financial products, services, and technologies, can help the U.S. economy better manage climate risk and help channel more capital into technologies essential for the transition. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5247742

Download or read book The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate written by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-04-30 with total page 755 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the leading international body for assessing the science related to climate change. It provides policymakers with regular assessments of the scientific basis of human-induced climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation. This IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate is the most comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the observed and projected changes to the ocean and cryosphere and their associated impacts and risks, with a focus on resilience, risk management response options, and adaptation measures, considering both their potential and limitations. It brings together knowledge on physical and biogeochemical changes, the interplay with ecosystem changes, and the implications for human communities. It serves policymakers, decision makers, stakeholders, and all interested parties with unbiased, up-to-date, policy-relevant information. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Download or read book Global Trends 2040 written by National Intelligence Council and published by Cosimo Reports. This book was released on 2021-03 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic marks the most significant, singular global disruption since World War II, with health, economic, political, and security implications that will ripple for years to come." -Global Trends 2040 (2021) Global Trends 2040-A More Contested World (2021), released by the US National Intelligence Council, is the latest report in its series of reports starting in 1997 about megatrends and the world's future. This report, strongly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, paints a bleak picture of the future and describes a contested, fragmented and turbulent world. It specifically discusses the four main trends that will shape tomorrow's world: - Demographics-by 2040, 1.4 billion people will be added mostly in Africa and South Asia. - Economics-increased government debt and concentrated economic power will escalate problems for the poor and middleclass. - Climate-a hotter world will increase water, food, and health insecurity. - Technology-the emergence of new technologies could both solve and cause problems for human life. Students of trends, policymakers, entrepreneurs, academics, journalists and anyone eager for a glimpse into the next decades, will find this report, with colored graphs, essential reading.

Download or read book Doing Business 2015 written by World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2014-10-24 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Twelfth in a series of annual reports comparing business regulation in 189 economies, Doing Business 2015 measures regulations affecting 10 areas of everyday business activity: Starting a business Dealing with construction permits Getting electricity Registering property Getting credit Protecting minority investors Paying taxes Trading across borders Enforcing contracts Resolving insolvency Labor market regulations This year's report will present data for a second city for the 11 economies with more than 100 million inhabitants. These are Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Russian Federation, and the United States. Three of the 10 topics covered have been expanded, with further plans to expand on five additional indicators in next year's report. Additionally, the Doing Business rankings are now based on the distance to the frontier measure where each economy is evaluated based on how close their business regulations are to the best global practices. This provides a more precise view of each economy's performance and its improvement over time. The report updates all indicators as of June 1, 2014, ranks economies on their overall 'ease of doing business,' and analyzes reforms to business regulation identifying which economies are strengthening their business environment the most. Doing Business illustrates how reforms in business regulations are being used to analyze economic outcomes for domestic entrepreneurs and for the wider economy. It is a flagship product produced in partnership by the World Bank and IFC that garners worldwide attention on regulatory barriers to entrepreneurship. More than 60 economies have used the Doing Business indicators to shape reform agendas and monitor improvements on the ground. In addition, the Doing Business data has generated over 2,000 articles in peer-reviewed academic journals since its inception.

Download or read book World Investment Report 2019 written by United Nations Publications and published by . This book was released on 2019-08-16 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report focuses on special economic zones (SEZs) which are widely used across most developing and many developed economies. It explores the place of SEZs in today's global investment landscape and provides guidance for policymakers on how to make SEZs work for sustainable development. It presents international investment trends and prospects at global, regional and national levels, as well as the evolution of international production and global value chains. It analyses the latest developments in new policy measures for investment promotion, facilitation and regulation around the world.

Download or read book The Global Findex Database 2017 written by Asli Demirguc-Kunt and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2018-04-19 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2011 the World Bank—with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—launched the Global Findex database, the world's most comprehensive data set on how adults save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. Drawing on survey data collected in collaboration with Gallup, Inc., the Global Findex database covers more than 140 economies around the world. The initial survey round was followed by a second one in 2014 and by a third in 2017. Compiled using nationally representative surveys of more than 150,000 adults age 15 and above in over 140 economies, The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and the Fintech Revolution includes updated indicators on access to and use of formal and informal financial services. It has additional data on the use of financial technology (or fintech), including the use of mobile phones and the Internet to conduct financial transactions. The data reveal opportunities to expand access to financial services among people who do not have an account—the unbanked—as well as to promote greater use of digital financial services among those who do have an account. The Global Findex database has become a mainstay of global efforts to promote financial inclusion. In addition to being widely cited by scholars and development practitioners, Global Findex data are used to track progress toward the World Bank goal of Universal Financial Access by 2020 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The database, the full text of the report, and the underlying country-level data for all figures—along with the questionnaire, the survey methodology, and other relevant materials—are available at www.worldbank.org/globalfindex.

Download or read book OECD Investment Policy Reviews Nigeria 2015 written by OECD and published by OECD Publishing. This book was released on 2015-05-21 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Investment Policy Review examines Nigeria’s investment policies in light of the OECD Policy Framework for Investment (PFI), a tool to mobilise investment in support of economic growth and sustainable development.

Download or read book Entrepreneurial State written by Mariana Mazzucato and published by Anthem Press. This book was released on 2015 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: List of Tables and Figures; List of Acronyms; Acknowledgements; Introduction: Thinking Big Again; Chapter 1: From Crisis Ideology to the Division of Innovative Labour; Chapter 2: Technology, Innovation and Growth; Chapter 3: Risk-Taking State: From 'De-risking' to 'Bring It On!'; Chapter 4: The US Entrepreneurial State; Chapter 5: The State behind the iPhone; Chapter 6: Pushing vs. Nudging the Green Industrial Revolution; Chapter 7: Wind and Solar Power: Government Success Stories and Technology in Crisis; Chapter 8: Risks and Rewards: From Rotten Apples to Symbiotic Ecosystems; Chapter 9: So.

Download or read book The Age of Sustainable Development written by Jeffrey D. Sachs and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2015-03-03 with total page 564 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jeffrey D. Sachs is one of the world's most perceptive and original analysts of global development. In this major new work he presents a compelling and practical framework for how global citizens can use a holistic way forward to address the seemingly intractable worldwide problems of persistent extreme poverty, environmental degradation, and political-economic injustice: sustainable development. Sachs offers readers, students, activists, environmentalists, and policy makers the tools, metrics, and practical pathways they need to achieve Sustainable Development Goals. Far more than a rhetorical exercise, this book is designed to inform, inspire, and spur action. Based on Sachs's twelve years as director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, his thirteen years advising the United Nations secretary-general on the Millennium Development Goals, and his recent presentation of these ideas in a popular online course, The Age of Sustainable Development is a landmark publication and clarion call for all who care about our planet and global justice.