(ANSA) - TRIESTE - Investing in 'innovation' is the key element for the emerging economies of Central and Eastern Europe in order to ''increase productivity'' and ''reach the level of their more developed neighbours''. This is the recipe for a more sustainable and long-lasting economic growth given by the chief economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Erik Berglof, and presented at a conference held at the National Bank of Poland in Warsaw. Berglof pointed out that ''foreign direct investment sharply decreased'' because of ''the retrenchment of banks, due to the global crisis''.

Berglof suggested not only ''macroeconomic stability'', but also ''innovation'', regarded as adaptation and progress of technological frontiers'', and moreover as ''encouragement to develop specialization, combining traditional technologies with informatics'' and focusing on ''exports''. Innovation, the EBRD has annouced, will be the focus of the forthcoming 'Transition Report 2014: Innovation in Transition', which will be issued on November 18.(ANSA).