German

Poland has become the leader in Central Europe in attracting foreign investors, attracting about USD 50 billion of foreign direct investment (FDI) since 1990, according to the Polish Agency for Foreign Investment (PAIZ). PAIZ estimates that FDI inflows for 2001 will reach USD 6-8 billion, depending on the pace of privatization. Large capital surpluses due to FDI and portfolio inflows have caused net official reserves to increase, from 21.2 billion at the end of 1997 to USD 26 billion at the end of 2000. Long-term capital inflows are important to cover the current account deficit. According to statistics from PAIZ, as of the end of 2000, France was the largest investor in Poland, with a total of USD 7.9 billion. In second place was the U.S. with USD 7.35 billion and in third place was Germany with USD 5.9 billion. France Telecom alone invested USD 3.2 billion in Poland in 2000, which significantly increased France's total FDI in Poland. U.S. exports to Poland in 2000 increased to USD 2....