Asean FDI flows Up 9% to US$15 Billion in 1Q

MANILA, Aug 23 (Bernama) -- Asean saw a foreign direct investment (FDI) flow of US$15 billion (US$1=RM3.48) in the first quarter of this year, up by nine percent from US$13.7 billion in the same period last year, signalling that the regional bloc remains a favourite investment destination.The region attracted US$52.4 billion of FDI last year, a 28 percent increase year-on-year from US$41 billion previously.The major sources of FDI into Asean in 2006 were Japan, Britain, the United States, the Netherlands and Germany, according to a statement issued after the Asean Investment Area (AIA) Council met here today.It said manufacturing, financial intermediation and related services including insurance, telecommunications, trade/commerce and services were the top recipients of the FDI in 2006.The council noted the remarkable growth in 2006 FDI in the financial intermediation and related services sector, which increased three-fold to US$12.4 billion from US$4.4 billion in 2005.The statement said intra-Asean FDI grew by 66 percent to US$6.2 billion last year from US$3.8 billion a year before and accounted for over 10 percent of the total FDI flow into Asean.The AIA Council met for the 10th time today, in conjunction with the 39th Asean Economic Ministers (AEM) meeting and related meetings here starting tomorrow to review the developments of AIA for the past year.Also discussed at the meeting, which was chaired by Philippines Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila, was policy options in attracting more FDI into Asean.