Investment project icons will appear in the “Moscow” part of the e-map. They will lead to project pictures and videos, project links to web-pages, and the business-plan and presentations will be available for download. It is expected that projects will be filtered “by districts, types of economic activities, status, value, completion terms, and submission dates”. The e-map will be available as iPhone and iPad applications. The resource value will amount to RUB 3mn.

It is not the first attempt at creating an investment map of the capital. A draft appeared for the first time online back in 2008, at the “Invest in Moscow” website created by the Department of Foreign Economic and International Relations of the City of Moscow, supported by the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI).

However, the authorities considered the web-design and content inadequate and closed the project, setting up a tender for a new resource. There is also an online gallery named “Science and Industry of Moscow”, that has been around for three years and has not been updated since 2008.

Suren Vardanyan, Head of the Moscow Export and Investment Promotion Agency, told us that the e-map is primarily needed for the promotion of the region. It should be available in at least two languages (Russian and English) and updated no less than once in a trimester.

Today Moscow accounts for 35 percent of all investments in Russia. “The ultimate struggle is for investments in the city enterprises, manufacturing, and processing”, explains Suren Vardanyan. “But direct investments make up only 5-7 percent of the market. Foreign companies located in Moscow normally just credit themselves”.

According to the City Social and Economic Development Outlook for 2012-2014, investments in main capital totaled RUB 630.7 million in 2010, with a planned increase by RUB 682 million in 2011, and by 1 billion in 2014.

Today, the crucial part of foreign investments goes to real estate, trade, and finance. The Moscow authorities count upon investing in healthcare, education, infrastructure, technological industries, including IT. In late September, the government of Moscow set up an investment committee chaired by the city mayor Sobyanin.

Today, major investors in Moscow are the Republic of Cyprus and the Netherlands. “The trend is geared towards more investments from the most developed states – Germany, the United States, the UK, France”, says Suren Vardanyan. “Korea and Japan are active, too; they are starting to invest in technologies. China is generally promoting its own products in our city. Due to reinvestment, we sometimes get exotic states such as the Virgin Islands”.

Alexey Skopin, Deputy Head of Department of the Regional Economy and Economic Geography at the Higher School of Economics, believes that the expansion of Moscow creates a giant field for investments – trillions of roubles. The new territories are seen as locations for vast housing development. “That’s why the city needs a functional online resource for investors – with all the project details”, he said.

Dmitry Shusternyak, General Director at Finexpertise Consulting, added that in creating an investment resource, city authorities should focus on the map of Moscow and the projects, not on the countries investing in Russia’s capital. Otherwise, the leading investor will be Cyprus as the off-shore zone, which will do little to boost the image of Moscow.

Margarita Verkhovskaya

Project Group №5