The Welsh capital of Cardiff offers all of the benefits of a large city, without the large price tag. Slowly, its relatively cheap but well educated workforce and attractive government incentives are starting to draw companies away from rival English cities.

As the discord from the Arab Spring uprisings recedes in north African countries such as Morocco and Egypt, FDI is returning, with broadband and communications infrastructure a prime target for investors looking for high growth potential.

At the World Economic Forum meeting on Africa in Cape Town in May, fDi spoke to leading officials from three African countries that are implementing strategies to improve their records for attracting foreign investment.

Finland has been hit hard by the downturn in the fortunes of phone firm Nokia, but the wealth of expertise and the spirit of enterprise that made the company such a success has been channelled into a fertile nursery of start-ups.

While some IT hotspots in central and eastern Europe are overheating, with rising demand leading to a hike in wage expectations, Macedonia is positioning itself to take advantage, investing in developing the IT expertise of its graduates and establishing a business incubator to assist new businesses.

With its good business climate, highly educated workforce and large neighbouring countries, Finland should be easily marketable to investors but, according to the country's president Sauli Niinisto, the country needs to work harder at promoting its merits and pushing for more inward FDI.

As animosity between North America and China grows, North America is being increasingly protectionist in its FDI policies, which Chinese investors are rebuffing with claims that they lack clarity and transparency.