manufacturing, financial services and tourism are fully open in all the economies of the region. Almost all high-income OECD economies are more open than the global average (88%) (Figure 4). Italy, Ireland, Germany, Czech Republic, New Zealand and the United States are among the most open to foreign investment. EU economies covered by the indicators impose restrictions on the international passenger air transportation sector, in which foreign ownership is limited to 49%. This equity restriction, however, only applies to investors from economies outside of the European Economic Area (EEA). In 2012, Italy passed a notable and favorable reform<sup>7</sup> replacing the "golden shares" regime.<sup>8</sup>

**Figure 5. Foreign equity ownership index in Middle East and**

<!-- Start of picture text --> Yemen 100<br>Egypt, Arab Rep. 93<br>Jordan 92<br>Morocco 90<br>Saudi Arabia 76<br>Tunisia 74<br>Regional average 74<br>Iraq 62<br>Algeria 46<br>Syria 35<br>Source: FDI Regulations database 2012<br><!-- End of picture text --> The MENA region is the most restrictive (Figure 5). Economies in the region have more restrictions on foreign equity ownership in transport, education, accounting, financial services, mining and oil & gas, and waste management and water supply industries than any other region. An exception is the Republic of Yemen, which has no limits on foreign ownership in any of the sectors measured by the project. In several economies across the region, the extractive industries (mining and oil & gas) are much less open to foreign capital participation than in other regions. In MENA, Syria imposes the most restrictions and Algeria caps at 49% almost all the 32 sectors covered by the project.

In LAC, most economies covered by the data impose few restrictions to foreign ownership (Figure 6). Chile, Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia and Peru are among the world’s most open economies, with almost no restrictions on foreign ownership in any of the sectors covered by the project. However, Mexico, Costa Rica and The República Bolivariana de Venezuela impose several restrictions in strategic sectors such as oil & gas, electricity and media. The manufacturing, accounting, education and tourism sectors are fully open in all the

**Figure 6. Foreign equity ownership index in  Latin America and the Caribbean**

<!-- Start of picture text --> Guatemala 100<br>Peru 98<br>Haiti (data from 2010) 98<br>Bolivia 98<br>Colombia 98<br>Chile 98<br>Honduras 97<br>Ecuador 97<br>Argentina 93<br>Brazil 93<br>Regional average 93<br>Dominican Republic 92<br>Nicaragua 91<br>Costa Rica 89<br>Venezuela, RB 82<br>Mexico 67<br><!-- End of picture text --> _Source:_ FDI Regulations database 2012 7 Italian Law Decree No. 21 dated 15 March 2012, subsequently passed, as amended by Italian Law No. 56 dated 11 May 2012 0 50 8 "Golden shares" means that the Italian Government is vested with certain exceptional powers in relation to the allocation of shareholdings, following the process of privatization of certain public companies in the sectors of defense, energy, public services, and telecommunications. These exceptional powers included the ability of the government to intervene in a number of different ways (e.g. objection to ownership changes or even vetoing certain types of corporate resolutions).

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