The article discusses the role of foreign direct investment in the economy of receiving region and country on the example of the Russian Federation and Sverdlovsk region. The positive and negative effects of foreign capital in national and regional economies are marked. A set of indicators to assess the impact of foreign direct investment in the host region economy is offered to determine the trends of attracting foreign capital in the last decade and the role of foreign direct investment in the economic development of the Sverdlovsk region and the Russian Federation. The examples of investment projects with the participation of foreign companies which were successfully implemented in the Sverdlovsk region have been considered. The conclusion about higher rates of the transnationalization of economic activity in Russia in comparison with similar processes in the Sverdlovsk region is made. In the paper, a comparative statistical analysis of the development of the economy of the country and Sverdlovsk region by attracting internal or investment resources is provided. The comparative analysis shows that the country and region economy does not depend much on the foreign direct investment inflows. With the help of the econometric analysis, we have confirmed the hypothesis about a weak impact of foreign direct investment on economic growth in the Sverdlovsk region and the Russian Federation. The results of the calculations for the Sverdlovsk Region and the Russian Federation show that domestic investment in fixed assets is the key factor for the growth of the gross regional product and the gross domestic product.

The article is devoted to a comparative research of the demand on business education services from the enterprises, which are engaged in foreign economic activity in the Marche region (Italy) and Sverdlovsk region (Russia) as these regions develop long-term economic cooperation. For corporate development, in the conditions of limited demand in domestic market, the Italian and Russian enterprises have to expand export activity and follow the strategy of internationalization of business, which can be effectively realized at the appropriate business education of personnel. The authors analyze the problems and challenges that companies face while going abroad. Regular business education of the personnel is identified as the most efficient way for overcoming emerging issues. During business education, employees of companies receive necessary knowledge, skills, competences and tools for the work in foreign markets. The authors apply one of the methods of demand market research — in-depth interview. We arranged focus groups and interviews with entrepreneurs, employees, carrying out export-import transactions during the internationalization process, as well as with university professors, and Non-Governmental Organizations’ representatives who further were asked to make their expert evaluation. During the research, the authors identified factors determining the demand on business education during internationalization; proposed the classification of companies depending on their business educational goals and internationalization levels; determined the priorities in the topics of educational programmes for the personnel of the firms participating in the foreign economic activity. On the basis of the received results, we have created recommendations for providers of business education on the offer of the educational programmes, which are the most satisfying the demand of the companies participating in the internationalization process.