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The potential recipient countries are engaged in a fierce competition for foreign investments. East-Central Europe, the author points out, fell back considerably in 1994 with the sudden halt in FDI. Some Western observers regard this as a significant turning point, one likely to put the region in a peripheral position in respect of FDI as compared to China and the Far East.
László Árva does not comment on this theory directly, but implies his disagreement by emphasizing the strategic interests of the large, multinational companies that have already made sizable investments in Hungary and in some of the neighboring countries. He also points out that while the large companies investing in these countries are primarily American, and, to a lesser degree, British, French, and Dutch, it is the small and medium-size sector of the German and Austrian economy that is represented in the region. He finds it somewhat disturbing that Japanese interest is still very moderate, for Japanese companies have a proven track record of turning loss-making businesses into profitable ones.
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East-Central Europe can no longer expect an economic miracle - if indeed there is such a thing - from continuing FDI. More and more, it must rely on its internal resources for economic development. This is not to suggest that the receiving countries should adopt a more "cautious" attitude toward FDI. Rather, the emphasis should change from a quantitative to a qualitative approach. Until now, what was important was the size of the imported working capital; its future role should be to provide new technology, up-to-date management techniques, and broader markets.