Prof Zhechev visited the University of Johannesburg and PASCAL (Africa) from the 21 to the 26 of August 2023.

Prof Vladimir Zhechev has earned his Ph.D. in Marketing (Brand Management) and currently holds the position of Head of the Department of Marketing and Erasmus+ institutional coordinator at UE-Varna (Bulgaria). He has worked as a consultant at GMSE (General Motors Southeast Europe) and has successfully completed over 10 European projects in the fields of: higher education, hospitality management, branding, marketing, student mobility, and others.

Vladimir Zhechev has completed projects in the UK, Russia, Thailand, Germany, Spain, France, Greece, Belgium (the European Commission – Directorate of Education and Culture), the Netherlands, India, Cyprus, etc. He has authored academic papers, monographs and book chapters in hotel marketing, general marketing, branding, CRM, etc. He is also a freelance marketing consultant to companies in the fields of mobile gaming, construction, hospitality, household services.

The attached slides are the lecture presented by Prof Zhechev organised by the Centre for Local Economic Development (CENLED) and Pascal (Africa). He spoke about the challenges faced by cities in attracting Foreign Direct Investment, and creating such an environment that would be most beneficial to centre stage a city as an investment destination of choice. Prof Zhechev described the international challenges faced by investors, and the global dynamics involved in the decision-making process of investors when making the best investment decision. He drew from several fields of Economics, Marketing and Development, highlighting the importance of appropriate marketing practices by practitioners of Local Economic Development. His lecture drew from years of active experience and created a platform to better understand behavioural strategies that would place a city at the centre of investment decision making.