Investment activity in the region: methodical approaches to assessment and methodology for determining its level in the Republic of Belarus

Investment activity of the region is a factor of long-term economic growth of the region and it determines the level of its social-and-economic development. Assessment of investment activity forms an analytical base for its management in order to increase or maintain a certain level. However, the methodological tools for assessing the investment activity of the regions of the Republic of Belarus, taking into account modern conditions of management and movement of resources, the specifics of the production potential of the regions, are insufficiently developed. The aim of the study was to develop a methodological tool for assessing investment activity for the regions of the country. The article analyzes the approaches to assessing regional investment activity existing in world practice, highlights the features and issues of their application that require further elaboration. As a result of the study, factor indicators of investment activity of the regions of the Republic of Belarus are determined and its model is formed. A feature is the use in the investment activity model of the factor indicators (data for their calculation) of state statistical observations constantly generated by state statistical bodies. Based on the proposed model, the author's methodology for assessing the investment activity of the region has been developed. The novelty of the developed methodology lies in the aggregation of indicators reflecting the parameters of "entry" (attracting investments in the regional economy) and "exit" (placement of investments in the regional economy) of investment activity into an integral indicator "investment activity index"; ensuring a systemic analysis of all essential characteristics of investment activity with an emphasis on the intensity of investment activity, taking into account its scale, focus and efficiency; the possibility of a qualitative interpretation of the quantitative level of investment activity by correlating quantitative assessments with the developed normative scale of investment activity; the possibility of assessing the region's position in dynamics, as well as in comparison with the regions of the country. The findings and results of the assessment are the basis for the analysis of the investment situation in the region by government bodies, the formation of directions for the development of regional investment policy and regulation of investment activity.