S'pore investing strongly in Asia

S'pore investing strongly in Asia

SINGAPORE : Singapore's investments overseas slipped a marginal 0.5 percent to US$159 billion in 2002, with nearly half in Asia, Department of Statistics (DOS) data showed on Friday.

China, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Indonesia were the top destinations for Singapore's investments in 2002, the most recent period in which complete statistics were available.

Twenty-eight percent of the investment abroad was in the British Virgin Islands and Bermuda, where several tax havens are located, followed by the United States.

Investment in the U.S. was mostly through financial services and mainly in the form of investment holding companies.

In Indonesia, direct investment took the form of financial services, transport, communications as well as manufacturing. -- dpa