Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Malta between January and June amounted to a net inflow of €207.2 million, €21 million less than in the corresponding period a year ago, the National Statistics Office said today.
It said that shortfall in reinvested earnings, together with decreases in both claims on and liabilities to direct investors abroad contributed to this outcome. A total 41.3 percent of net inflows of FDI for the first six months of this year originated from EU member states and a further 41.8 percent came from Asia.
During the same period in 2008, the EU27 contributed 44 percent of FDI inflows while 30.3 per cent originated from Turkey.
In the first half of 2009, enterprises involved in financial intermediation contributed €97.1 million of net FDI inflows (46.9 percent) while the share of the same group in the corresponding period last year was €136.9 million, or 60 percent.
The stock position of FDI in Malta at the end of June 2009 improved by €427.5 million compared to the end of June 2008. The main increase was accounted for by Turkey, with an increase of €228.8 million.
The greater part of foreign direct investment stocks in Malta as at the end of June 2009 was contributed by the EU-27 (53.5 percent) with Austria accounting for 21 percent of the total.
Direct investment from the Australia and Oceania regions amounted to 15.5 percent of the total with a further 10.6 percent contributed by Asian countries.
Maltese net investment abroad during the first half of 2009 amounted to €18.7 million compared to a net outflow of €88.8 million in the corresponding period in 2008.
The increase in equity capital abroad of €75.3 million last year was the result of a one-off transaction.
Direct investment abroad was mainly in the EU27 countries.
The stock position at the end of June amounted to €1,006.2 million, an increase of €173.7 million over the position prevailing at the end of June 2008.
The increase in investment in EU27 amounted to €124.9 million, or 71.9 percent. The share of direct investment stocks in the EU27 at the end of June 2009 accounted for 59.6 percent of the total stock.