Our trade relations with emerging Asia, Russia and with central and eastern European economies have strengthened noticeably over time. The share of emerging markets, taken together, in euro area trade has grown from about one-third, when the euro was introduced in 1999, to more than 40% today. Trade relations with India have equally strengthened over time. The euro area is also largely open financially.
If I focus on emerging markets, perhaps one of the most interesting developments in recent years is that the euro area has become an increasingly attractive destination for foreign direct investment from the largest of these economies, although starting from very low levels.