MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/. According to research by Foreign Direct Investment Intelligence (a division of the Financial Times Group), Moscow ranks 22nd among the cities of the future, ahead of San Francisco, Vilnius and Montreal, the city government’s economic policies division said in its Telegram channel.

The last time Moscow made it into Top 25 of the fDi Global Cities of the Future was back in 2014. It held 25th place. In 2020, it came back to the group of the world’s best cities for investment to take 22nd place, the report says.

Deputy mayor for economic policies and property and land relations, Vladimir Yefimov, has said that in recent years extensive work was carried out to transform Moscow into a city comfortable for investment and doing business, with diversified mechanisms for investor support, modern infrastructure and prompt cooperation with businesses. Despite the complex economic situation last year Moscow managed to draw a record amount of private investment: in January-September 2020 investment in fixed assets reached 1.9 trillion rubles, which is 11.5% more than in the same period of 2019.

Currently Moscow accounts for 17% of Russia’s overall investment in fixed assets and about half of direct foreign investment in Russia.

Favorable business environment

The purpose of fDi Global Cities of the Future rating is to identify the most attractive cities of the world from the standpoint of direct foreign investment. The Top 25 group includes cities around the world recognized as most promising for the influx of investment, economic development and the expansion of business environment. Moscow owes its achievement to a favorable business climate, comprehensive system of measures to support investors, including foreign ones, prompt interaction with businesses and the existence of special mechanisms for beneficial localization of production facilities.

"Moscow’s system of measures for supporting the real sector of the economy that has existed for about five years largely contributed to attracting investment to the city. This applies to financial support mechanisms, such as loans and subsidies, and non-financial ones - the placement of production facilities on beneficial terms, special status that considerably eases the tax burden and many others. We actively conclude public-private partnership contacts, which enable businesses to receive stable revenues and enjoy sales guarantees. We make no distinction between Russian and foreign businesses. Foreign companies that have localized production in Moscow are entitled to preferences, too," the chief of Moscow’s investment and industrial policies department, Alexander Prokhorov, is quoted as saying.

Moscow government minister Kirill Purtov, chief of the city’s economic policies and development department, added that in 2020 Moscow entered the fDi list of Europe’s top technological cities. Now the fDi has rated Moscow highly on the global scale in its Global Cities of the Future list, which confirms that the Russian capital is an attractive center for investment and successfully competes with other world megapolises. One of the driving forces of Moscow’s economic growth is the targeted investment program - a certain share of the budget the city spends on the implementation of priority projects in the field of transport, social sphere, utilities and other important tracks. Alongside targets related with the city’s main construction projects the targeted investment program encourages private investment in projects the city needs the most.