Vasyl Yurchyshyn, Kateryna Markevych
ABSTRACT. This article considers the individual components of expanding foreign direct investment flows and their impact on economic development in the Visegrad countries. Features of the policy aimed at attracting investment resources for the development and strengthening of a competitive economy are defined. The interrelation and mutual influence between foreign direct investment (FDI), foreign trade, and privatization during the course of investment enlargement are established. Given the experience and practice of Visegrad countries in attracting investment, this article defines challenges and problems surrounding the promotion and attraction of investment resources to Ukraine, the account of which will affect investment climate in the short and medium term positively and ensure the sustainability of economic growth and development.
KEYWORDS. Visegrad Group, economic growth, foreign direct investment, foreign trade dynamics, privatization, investment attractiveness.
Introduction
Global economic processes in general and the deepening of Ukraine’s integration into the European space, among others, raised the issues of updating and improvement of an effective external economic strategy of the state. The measures to achieve this should include both internal transformations, especially regarding formation of an innovation-investment economy model and effective use of foreign economic expansion potential, taking into account positive international experience.
The dynamic competitive environment of the global economy requires continuous updating and strengthening of international economic relations, and sustainable investment expansion for those countries who do not want to stay on the sidelines of contemporary global processes. As Table 1 shows, the share of investment in fixed assets in the structure of global GDP over the past decade is growing steadily; while during the 1980s’ it barely exceeded 20%, in recent years it has grown up to 24% . At the same time, the expansion of the global trading system is also inextricably linked to investment flows, especially the foreign direct investment. So while in 1980–1990 every dollar of FDI accounted for over USD 20–30 of exports of goods and services, in the post-crisis period this figure dropped to USD 15–17, while the share of accumulated FDI in world GDP has more than tripled , which is a sign of the increased FDI importance in the global economy.
