Romania is second favorite country for euro-zone companies

The tiny state of ranked first, with €12 billion in FDI attracted in 2006. was followed by other former communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe - , with €4.3 bln in foreign investments, €3.5 bln, and the Czech Republic with €3.3 bln.

, which joined the European Union in January 2007, together with , ranked eighth, with only €900 million in FDI.

Investments attracted by in 2006 were 2.4 times higher compared to 2005 (€3.1 bln) and 2.5 times higher than in 2004 (€3 bln).

In 2006, of the total €37.2 bln in foreign investments made by euro-zone companies in countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 2007, almost one quarter (22 percent) were in and .

In 2006, the most important foreign investment made in was the acquisition of the country’s largest lender, Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR), by Austrian Erste Bank.