Top 3 cities for FDI strategy: what can Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca learn from these thriving towns?

Barcelona, Porto, and Newcastle are the top European cities of the future based on their FDI strategies, according to fDi Intelligence. In the FDI strategy category, the judges’ endorsement fell on Barcelona in the major cities category, Porto in the large cities bracket, and Newcastle in the mid-sized cities category. Let’s take a look at what local municipalities like Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca could learn from these case studies.

By Claudiu Vrinceanu

The winning cities laid out their strategies for attracting, retaining, and expanding foreign investment, and the judges awarded points on everything from aftercare initiatives to energy resilience plans.

BARCELONA, SPAIN

Once again, Barcelona won the FDI Strategy category for Europe’s major cities. Technology and sustainability are at the core of Barcelona City Council’s approach to foreign investment, and the city continues to make gains on both fronts.

The flourishing tech ecosystem in Barcelona was boosted last year by Intel’s decision to partner up with the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre to set up a microchip design laboratory. In this regard, Romanian city administrations could choose to designate the tech industry as a strategic priority as well as pick a basic field of the economy that could be supported by digitalization and foreign tech investors. An example could be the health sector, due to the presence of several medtech startups and the possibility of getting state hospitals and universities involved, which can bring in more foreign investors.

To promote the city, the council is launching an interactive installation called “Plaça de Barcelona” in locations across Europe, which will include a virtual reality experience.

Inspired by this approach, through its diplomatic network and through similar projects it could carry out in other parts of Europe, ClujNapoca could showcase its many strengths to the public and to economic, media, cultural, and scientific stakeholders, for the purpose of attracting new projects, investments, and international talent.

Another innovative project is the “Workation” programme, which supports digital nomads looking to work remotely from Barcelona. Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca could borrow this good practice. We should note that Romania has a digital nomad visa for long and pocket-friendly stays, aimed at non-EU citizens. Applicants must have health insurance, a clean criminal record, and proof of an income over EUR 3,300 per month from a company outside Romania. If the person’s tax residency is in another country, they are not required to pay tax in Romania under this scheme. The Spanish city is also home to the Barcelona International Welcome Desk, a service now celebrating its first anniversary, which helps investors, researchers, and overseas talent arrive and get themselves set up in the city. This could be an opportunity for the first Science and Technology Park in Romania, Tetapolis, hosting Cluj research labs and business incubators, with an investment that reaches EUR 50 million.

PORTO, PORTUGAL

Porto is an emerging tech hub whose growth is supported by InvestPorto. In 2022, it lured British Kantar Group’s new global technology and innovation hub, while BMW and French bank Natixis expanded their local operations by announcing more than 1,300 new jobs. The opportunity here is for the biggest cities in Romania to create their own similar programmes, such as InvestBucharest and InvestCluj, forging stronger business networks via a new online marketplace, which connects incoming investors with local service providers and promotes shared workplaces to improve the visibility of the cities’ talent.

NEWCASTLE, UK

Newcastle is this year’s winner of the FDI Strategy category for mid-sized cities, thanks to its efforts to identify and enhance industries that are strategic for future growth. The lesson for Romanian cities is simple: specialising in targeted niche sub-sectors. For example, Invest Newcastle’s campaigns have targeted niches such as healthy aging, smart city technologies, and video games. New investors coming to Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca could benefit from a tailored soft-landing programme and access to state aid schemes.