Investment promotion agencies occupy an awkward institutional space—part diplomat, part salesman, part bureaucrat. When they work well, they transform abstract policy ambitions into concrete capital flows. When they fail, as most do, they advertise governmental incompetence to precisely the audiences their countries hope to impress.
Reinvantage’s latest comprehensive assessment of investment promotion across 32 countries in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, the Balkans, and Central Asia—now known as the Investment Promotion Playbook—reveals an extended region where excellence remains stubbornly concentrated amongst a handful of nations that understand a simple truth: investors prefer reliability to razzmatazz.
For the second consecutive year, Latvia claims the top position with a commanding score of 70.83 points out of a possible 100. This achievement becomes more impressive when viewed against an expanded field—the ranking now encompasses 32 countries, up from 23 in previous editions, incorporating newcomers from the eastern Mediterranean to the Central Asian steppes.
The expansion reveals fascinating regional patterns whilst confirming uncomfortable truths about the relationship between resources and results.
The Baltic formula
Latvia’s continued dominance rests on foundations that would seem mundane to marketing executives but prove irresistible to serious investors: accurate information, delivered reliably, without creative embellishment. The country achieves the highest score (24 out of 30 points) for information validity—the ranking’s most heavily weighted component—by treating transparency as a competitive weapon rather than a necessary evil.
This commitment to informational integrity compensates admirably for Latvia’s modest performance in innovation, where it scores just three points. The message proves as clear as the data itself: sometimes investors simply want facts, delivered without flourish. In a world of promotional noise and technological gimmicks, Latvia’s straightforward approach stands out like honest accounting in a room full of creative bookkeepers.
The other Baltic states, Estonia (68.67 points) and Lithuania (62.33 points), also feature in the top five, alongside Slovenia (62.50 points) and Ukraine (63.50 points). The regional pattern suggests that investment promotion excellence emerges not from vast budgets but from systematic attention to investor needs—something their larger, wealthier competitors appear incapable of grasping.
Ukraine deserves particular recognition for its third-place finish whilst managing an existential military threat. The country’s performance demonstrates that effective investment promotion can serve purposes beyond immediate economic returns, maintaining investor confidence whilst preparing ground for post-conflict reconstruction.
Turkish success
Among the nine newly assessed countries, Türkiye emerges as the standout performer, securing seventh place with 59.50 points. The country’s success rests particularly on digital excellence, achieving a perfect score of 20 points for online presence and ease of use—the highest mark recorded by any nation in the expanded assessment.
Türkiye’s digital competence reflects recognition that modern investment promotion increasingly occurs in virtual environments where first impressions prove decisive. The country has built platforms that allow meaningful preliminary assessment without expensive face-to-face meetings—precisely what time-pressed investors demand.
This achievement validates the decision to expand the ranking’s geographical scope and demonstrates that investment promotion excellence transcends traditional European boundaries. Türkiye’s performance relative to other newcomers, particularly compared to struggling Central Asian nations, suggests that proximity to established markets and institutions provides meaningful advantages.
The methodology matters
The ranking evaluates countries across five distinct metrics, each weighted to reflect real-world importance. Information validity commands 30 points, recognising that everything else proves worthless if investors cannot trust what they are told. Support and community building follows with 25 points, acknowledging that investment promotion ultimately concerns relationships extending beyond initial transactions.
Online presence carries 20 points, reflecting digital reality in modern business engagement. Innovation merits 15 points—important but never at the expense of fundamentals. Response to current developments, weighted at 10 points, often reveals whether agencies truly understand their operating environment.
These weightings prove instructive. Countries scoring highly on information validity—Latvia, Slovenia, Poland, Czechia, Romania—consistently outperform those with flashier approaches but weaker foundations. Meanwhile, nations achieving zero for innovation, including Lithuania and Hungary, demonstrate that systematic excellence in basics can deliver remarkable results without creative flourishes.
Uncomfortable truths
The expanded assessment exposes several uncomfortable realities about investment promotion competence. Despite theoretical advantages of EU membership, several union countries perform disappointingly. Bulgaria (21st place), Croatia (24th), and Cyprus (28th) all rank below non-EU competitors, suggesting that institutional benefits must be actively leveraged rather than passively relied upon.
The pattern proves particularly stark in Central Asia, where Kazakhstan (12th place) towers above regional neighbours. Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan occupy the bottom positions with scores of 17.50 and 16.33 respectively—performances so poor they essentially disqualify these countries from serious investment consideration before other factors come into play. Tajikistan at least, which recently hosted the enormously successful Dushanbe Investment Forum, does appear to have realised it needs to up its game.
Georgia’s decline from previous strong performance to 25th place illustrates how political instability undermines even established investment promotion capabilities. Countries that cannot maintain domestic stability struggle to convince investors of their reliability—a lesson that extends far beyond investment promotion into broader economic competitiveness.
The competence dividend
Perhaps the most striking finding concerns the relationship between resources and results. Latvia, with a population smaller than Birmingham’s, has built the world’s most trusted investment promotion operation. Meanwhile, countries with populations exceeding 30 million cannot manage basic website maintenance.
This pattern repeats across the ranking. War-torn Ukraine outperforms peaceful, prosperous Hungary. Türkiye’s digital excellence emerges despite challenging domestic conditions, whilst EU members with every institutional advantage struggle with elementary competence requirements.
The evidence suggests investment promotion excellence represents a choice rather than destiny. Countries achieving strong results share common characteristics: they treat accuracy as non-negotiable, maintain current information systems, provide comprehensive investor support, and recognise that transparency enhances rather than undermines competitive position.
Creative destruction
The ranking reveals two distinct approaches to investment promotion failure. Some countries, like Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, achieve uniformly low scores across all metrics, suggesting comprehensive institutional incapacity. Others, like Hungary and Romania, demonstrate selective competence—achieving respectable scores in some areas whilst failing entirely in others.
The second pattern proves more concerning because it indicates strategic choices rather than resource constraints. Countries possessing obvious capabilities in some areas whilst scoring zero in others—particularly innovation and responsiveness—suggest deeper problems with institutional imagination and coordination.
Albania’s dramatic fall to 29th place and Bulgaria’s decline from previous respectability illustrate how quickly competence can erode when attention wanders. Investment promotion excellence requires sustained effort rather than sporadic attention—something many countries appear unable to maintain.
The path forward
The requirements for investment promotion excellence are neither secret nor complex. Countries must maintain accurate information systems, build functional digital platforms, provide comprehensive investor support, develop practical solutions to investor problems, and respond appropriately to changing circumstances.
None of these requirements demands revolutionary technology or transformational spending. What they do require is systematic attention, institutional coordination, and political commitment to excellence over activity. Countries providing these inputs consistently outperform those that do not, regardless of size, wealth, or geographical advantages.
The global economy increasingly rewards competence whilst punishing mediocrity. Investment promotion agencies that cannot meet basic professional standards are not merely ineffective—they actively damage their countries’ reputations and economic prospects.
Latvia’s continued leadership demonstrates that success remains achievable for countries willing to prioritise substance over style. The question facing each nation is whether it possesses the institutional will to make necessary changes or prefers to continue explaining why improvement proves impossible. Global investors will render their verdict regardless.
Find out more about the Reinvantage Investment Promotion Playbook 2025.
Photo: Dreamstime.
