Washington, D.C., April 26, 2005 – According to a report by the political magazine Foreign Policy and consulting firm A.T. Kearney, Croatia is the 16th most globalized country in the world, out of 62 countries that were included in the globalization index research. Singapore is the most globalized country and is followed by Ireland, Switzerland, United States and the Netherlands. The report, published this month, is based upon data from 2003.
In the study, globalization is measured by factors that include global integration in the economic, political, technological and personal contact areas of the studied countries, whose gross domestic product amounts to 85 percent of the world GDP, and whose population is 85 percent of the total world population.
In the European countries that are expected to become members of the European Union in the coming period, which includes Croatia, Romania and the Ukraine, a significant rise in direct foreign investments has been noted, according to the research.
In Croatia, there has been a rise of at least 50 percent in direct foreign investments in the year 2003. Additionally, in Croatia, Romania and the Ukraine, overall trade has increased by 26 to 36 percent, while in the countries whose entrance into the European Union was expected in 2004, such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia, direct foreign investments decreased as a result of the fall of the level of price competitiveness in each country.