Formal / academic sounding phrase for "uncharted territory"

Question

I concede that "uncharted territory" is not that casual, but it's slightly below the formal bar that I have set up for myself (not to mention it's somewhat over-used). So, I still want to replace the phrase "uncharted territory" with something more formal/academic.

The manufacturing sector remains ____________ for foreign investors.

But I'm ok with rearranging the sentence to fit, for example:
To make few I thought of fit:

entails unknowns
elements of uncertainty

I tried:

Foreign investors still find that elements of uncertainty surround the
manufacturing sector.

But I still don't feel like I have really captured the essence of the phrase.

Elliot · Answer

At least you are avoiding the mistake of "Unchartered territory"  I hear more frequently.
I think uncharted territory is plenty formal. It is well understood and does not sound the least casual. One alternative is Terra Incognita which only means land we do not know. Though it sounds remote it is really just other land, not a magic place. It includes the elements of unknown and uncertainty you are looking for. It does bristle with Latinate which can be annoying to the larger herbivores. With that you could just say New land and be done with it.

Licky Cat · Answer

Uncharted territory sounds plenty formal. But just to answer, unsurveyed domain should be good.

Hot Licks · Answer

If you want something that's archaic, use "Here be dragons":

"Here be dragons" (hic sunt dracones in Latin) means dangerous or
unexplored territories, in imitation of a medieval practice of putting
illustrations of dragons, sea monsters and other mythological
creatures on uncharted areas of maps where potential dangers were
thought to exist.

Formal / academic sounding phrase for "uncharted territory"

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