Asia-Pacific secures US$90b investment

Asia-Pacific secures US$90b investment

JAKARTA (JP): Foreign direct investments flowing into
developing countries are estimated to reach US$90 billion in
1995, according to a United Nations report.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD) said in a report released here yesterday that developing
countries in South, East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific
secured the lion's share of foreign direct investment inflows, as
a result of their high economic growth rates, liberalized
investment rules and ongoing privatization programs.

The report said that in 1994, developing nations in South,
East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific attracted US$59 billion,
or more than 70 percent of the total foreign direct investment of
$84.4 billion flowing into developing countries.

The investment flows into developing countries were more than
one-third of the world's foreign direct investments, which
totaled $226 billion in 1994.

The report noted that China was becoming more important as
foreign direct investments flowing into that country steadily
increased, from $28 billion in 1993 to $34 billion in 1994.
Foreign investment in China is likely to continue increasing in
the coming years, according to the report.

Transnational corporations headquartered in China were also
emerging as important foreign direct investors. By 1994, over 900
China-based transnational corporations had established 4,600
affiliates in 130 countries, with average annual of investment
outflows of $2.4 billion in the period 1990-1994.

The report said that China, with an inflow of some $34 billion
in investments, was the second-largest recipient of investment
worldwide in 1994, after the United States, which attracted $49
billion.

Discussing the report yesterday, economist Djisman
Simandjuntak said that Indonesia is still not on the global
investment map.

He quoted the report's finding that realized foreign direct
investment flowing into Malaysia in 1995 came to $6.5 billion and
Singapore $6 billion, while the figure for Indonesia reached only
$3 billion.

The Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) reported that foreign
direct investments approved by the government in 1994 was $23.72
billion for the development of 296 projects.

BKPM's figure includes both the investors' equity and the
loans that they planned to raise from banks.

With South, East and Southeast Asia being the fastest-growing
region in the world, competition to attract foreign investment is
set to intensify in the coming years, the report said. (kod)