Regional investment declarations as an instrument for attracting investments

Abstract

The influence of regional public investment commitments, fixing the principles of interaction, support, and implementation of the investment project, positively affects the improvements of investment climate within the spatial development. The author analyzed 45 investment declarations and outlined a high differentiation of regions in fixing investment obligations, conditions, and their actual implementation concerning investors. Assuming that investors can use the declaration provisions when deciding to invest, the author interviewed representatives of regional business associations, including investors, regarding the quality of the adopted investment declarations and the obligations they need. The analysis showed that the vast majority of documents cannot be an offer and have no worth to the investor. The survey results among employees of regional development agencies and relevant executive authorities identified difficulties in preparation and implementation of investment declarations, namely: a lack of confidence in the investment declaration and insufficient interaction with business associations. Regional governments differ in their approach to the process of drafting investment documents, even though there is a unified standard for preparing investment declarations. This indicates a low awareness among regional authorities concerning what the investment process should look like. The author concludes that this is primarily due to the high informal component of the investment projects allocation and the influence of the governors and heads of the subjects of the Russian Federation on the investment climate in the region.