Operating a tech start-up in a country hit by sanctions or a negative international image is not easy. Attracting investment is harder still. Michal Kaczmarski speaks to those on both sides of the divide.

Hit by high unemployment levels among its younger population, Bilbao's mayor, Juan Maria Aburto, tells Courtney Fingar how the city is looking to the digital sector and tourism to reverse its fortunes.

More than six months after the Brexit referendum, the precise conditions under which the UK will leave the EU remain unknown. This has not deterred France from going after new business opportunities, however, and investment agencies around the country are working on plans to attract more UK-based companies. Cecile Sourbes reports. 

Thanks to imminent legislation, Belgium’s Wallonia region looks set to become more attractive for real estate investors. Wendy Atkins reports.

Garen Mikirditsian, CEO of the Development Foundation of Armenia, a governmental agency dedicated to attracting investments, promoting exports and expanding the country’s tourism potential, outlines the country’s strengths, including its key location and large diaspora.

Armenia aims to exploit its ancient heritage – which includes a civilisation that predates the Egyptian pyramids – and its wine-making expertise to further boost its nascent tourist industry. Courtney Fingar reports. 

After a period of stagnation typified by an abundance of red tape stymieing investment and construction, Kaunas is entering a new age of growth. The city’s mayor, Visvaldas Matijosaitis, explains to Natasha Turak how his private sector experience gave him the edge.

With a history of technical expertise in the aviation and maintenance, repair and overhaul industries, Kaunas has built a niche for itself in this field, aided by its international airport and adjacent free zone, as Natasha Turak finds.

Kaunas has established a reputation as a medical technology and R&D hub for the Baltic region. Its next step, as Natasha Turak discovers, is to ensure that its technological prowess is acknowledged on a global scale.