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Back International trade and foreign direct investment - 2013 edition


In a world of increasing globalisation, where political, economic and technological barriers are rapidly disappearing, the ability of the European Union and its Member States to participate in global activity is an important indicator of their performance and competitiveness. In order to remain competitive, modern day business relationships extend well beyond the traditional foreign exchange of goods and services. International trade may be complemented or substituted by producing (and often selling) goods and services in countries other than where an enterprise was first established: this approach is known as foreign direct investment (FDI). The aim of this pocketbook is to give an overview of the external dimension of the EU economy by presenting, in a compact way, the available data on trade in goods, trade in services, and foreign direct investments. More detailed information is freely available on Eurostat's website.

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Release date: 2 May 2013

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Format: PAPER

Additional information

Product code: KS-FO-12-001
ISBN 978-92-79-27007-9
ISSN 1977-7876
doi:10.2785/35456
Theme: International trade
Collection: Pocketbooks