India, fourth most attractive business location

India is the fourth most attractive business location for European business houses, the fifth annual European attractiveness survey carried out by global consultancy firm Ernst & Young has said. Of the 834 decision-makers who responded to the survey, 30 per cent found India gaining investor confidence and growing as a better business destination than US and Russia.

China was rated as the most attractive business destination with 47 per cent votes followed by Central Europe (42 per cent) and Western Europe (33 per cent). The US and Russia was preferred by 21 per cent. Termed as "an open world", the European attractiveness survey sought to identify the prospects of alternative business locations and the criteria that drive the perceptions of the respondents.

According to E&Y, the survey findings underscored that the most important driving force for foreign direct investors is to access new markets and as Europe's economy slows, investors are increasingly looking to thriving economies and competitiveness elsewhere. "The survey findings further highlighted that business leaders today see the investment world as multi-polar, with destinations such as China, India, Russia and the West Asia. These relatively recent global players now present really viable competition to the developed world in the eyes of potential investors in search of investment locations", it stated.

"The world is becoming a level playing field when it comes to businesses' perceptions of their cross-border investment options," said Marc Lhermitte, Partner, Ernst & Young, France, who led the European attractiveness survey.