India fourth most attractive investment country: E

Kolkata, Jun 18 (UNI) The Ernst&Young European Attractiveness Survey 2006 has placed India as the fourth most attractive investment country in the world and as the most preferred location for call centres and back office functions.

The United States and China remained top two preferred countries for international decision makers with 41 per cent votes.

India's rating in 2006 is on par with the previous year, with 18 per cent of investors citing it as a key choice.

However, the survey ''Globalisation Act II: Team Europe Defends its Goals'' said the country shows few signs of being able to compete with China as an FDI destination.

The 2006 survey is also marked by a cooling off of China's attractiveness, to the benefit of more mature locations, notably Western Europe.

Whilst remaining attractive, China's pull has considerably reduced since the European Attractiveness Survey 2005 (52 per cent).

According to the survey, while SMEs are most attracted by China (46 per cent), there has been a decline in the level of interest expressed by multinational corporations (38 per cent) compared with (58 per cent) a year earlier.

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