FDI in ASEAN to increase

FDI in ASEAN to increase

MANILA (Dow Jones): Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is expected to rise next year as the region emerges from its economic crisis, according to a study by ASEAN's secretariat.

The study, released Saturday at ASEAN meetings in Manila, said both the regional and global economic outlooks were improving, and that Japan and the European Union were becoming more able to invest abroad.

"There are good reasons to believe that there are better prospects for higher amounts of FDI flows into the region in 2000, in comparison to the 1998-1999 level," the study said.

In 1998, FDI in ASEAN countries tumbled 23 percent from $27.8 billion in 1997. Net investment by Asean countries in each other shrank to just 2 percent of total FDI from 18 percent in the previous year.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.