Deloitte's Guide to Investing in CE: open the B&R gateway into Europe

Central Europe's economic transition over the past two decades has generated a wealth of business opportunities for state owned enterprises, multinational companies, and small and medium-sized businesses alike. Located at the gateway to Western Europe, the region is also one of the most crucial links for China's "Belt and Road" initiative.

Central European countries along the "Belt and Road" route therefore make a great appeal to Chinese investors who want to take advantage both of the initiative and of these countries' growing economies.

To better support Chinese businesses' global strategy in the "Belt and Road" era, Deloitte Global Chinese Services Group hereby introduces the Central Europe Investment Guide, which relates Deloitte's expertise and experience to decode the region's business opportunities and practices for potential investors.

The 42-page investment guide features 10 select countries in Central Europe, namely, Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Romania, Poland, Lithuania, and Croatia.

A comprehensive overview of each country is provided in the guide, introducing the country's

• Economy (volume, growth rates, and key industries)
• Foreign trade (main exports and trade partners)
• Labor cost 
• Connectivity (domestic and international connectivity; mobile network coverage)
• Tax system and policies 
• Foreign investment incentives 
• Legal business structures 
• Existing Chinese presence (local Chinese population, Chinese businesses in the country)
• Property market
• Immigration and visa policies

Overall, Central Europe has diverse industries ranging from agriculture, mining, automobile, aviation, tourism, to finance, ICT, life sciences, and nanotech. Meanwhile, the region enjoys a large availability of low cost, high-skilled workers, due to its historic focus on technical education in such fields as electro-technics, math and chemistry.

The governments of Central European countries have been making continuous efforts to draw in foreign direct investment over the past ten years, and have seen a positive outcome. One method is introducing favorable tax regimes; Hungary, for instance, has the lowest corporate income tax in EU. Most of the countries in Central Europe also offer attractive investment incentives, especially in the field of research and development.

To learn more about how to leverage Central European countries' competitive advantages and investment incentives to facilitate your "Belt and Road" strategy, please download the investment guide.