Challenges in Aligning Municipal Investment Passports with Regional Investment Policy in Russia

Abstract

External economic pressures and the volatility of macroeconomic processes have given rise to several new trends in regional economies: regionalization of economic spaces, growing interregional disparities, and intensified interregional interactions. These changes highlight the need for focused research on setting priorities in regional investment policies, improving policy implementation tools, and developing mechanisms to coordinate and motivate stakeholders involved in investment activities at both regional and municipal levels. This study examines methodological frameworks for defining regional investment priorities and tools, and their alignment with municipal investment profiles. The central hypothesis suggests that priority investment goals are cascaded from the regional level down to municipalities through territory-specific investment passports. The methodology includes analysis and synthesis of theoretical concepts on regional development, development of systematic approaches for selecting key objectives and managing investment processes within territorial economic systems, and a detailed examination of municipal investment passports based on the case of Novosibirsk Oblast (Russia). Findings reveal a lack of vertical alignment between the strategic initiatives led by regional authorities and the practical measures executed by municipalities in investment management. This gap is evident across four key areas: promotion and support of export-oriented and import-substitution projects, strengthening and streamlining of cooperative networks, development of priority regional economic sectors, and integration of investment risk assessment into project execution. These results lead to recommendations for improving the design of territorial investment passports and emphasize the need for a coordinated system that better aligns municipal investment efforts with overarching regional investment policy goals.