The decline of once-dominant telecommunications giant Nokia had grim repercussions for the Finnish city of Tampere, in which it employed 4000 people at its peak. However, with an educated, highly skilled workforce, and its innovative streak still fully intact, Tampere is filling the 'Nokia gap' with a number of exciting projects.

For as long as he has been operating in the country, the founder and co-owner of Istil Group, Mohammad Zahoor, says that Ukraine has faced problems. Which is why, despite having business assets seized as a result of current political frictions, he is pressing ahead with existing projects in the country and optimistically predicting that a resolution to the current hostilities with Russia is on the horizon.

With the opening of a nearby residential development, complete with a whole host of leisure facilities, Special Economic Zone Alabuga is hoping to strengthen its appeal to foreign investors.

In less than 10 years, Special Economic Zone Alabuga has developed from being just 'a field and a masterplan', into a zone attracting dozens of businesses from around the world. Now, it is looking to its next phase of growth, with ambitions to have 120 companies and $12bn invested by 2020.

Special Economic Zone Alabuga has identified the biggest problems that investors in Russia usually face – namely, access to infrastructure and ease of trade across borders – and made sure that residents in the zone do not have to struggle at the hands of these issues.

Incentives – in the form of tax breaks, training and other business services assistance – are a large part of what attracts companies to SEZ Alabuga. While such benefits look hugely attractive to prospective investors, Michal Kaczmarski reports on the impact they have for those that take up residence in the zone.

Located in the republic of Tatarstan, Special Economic Zone Alabuga sits alongside cities that have a lot to offer investors in terms of infrastructure, development, leisure and culture. 

A year after his first visit, Michal Kaczmarski returns to Cardiff Capital Region, tracking the changes in the region's economic development landscape.