U.S. investment in ASEAN

U.S. investment in ASEAN

BANGKOK (AFP): U.S. investment in ASEAN countries has topped that of Japan, reaching US$40 billion and likely to pass $200 billion by the end of the decade, a U.S. business representative said yesterday.

Robert Driscoll, president of the U.S.-ASEAN Council, which promotes private business ventures in Southeast Asia, said U.S. investment to the region grew by $3 billion in 1993 alone, according to the U.S. Chambers of Commerce.

U.S. investment "is well in excess of $40 billion," based on current market values, he told a news conference here.

He put Japan's investment in members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at slightly below that figure at about $35 billion-to-$40 billion. The U.S. figures have doubled since 1987 and may top $200 billion by the end of the decade, Driscoll said.

But Driscoll, whose council spends nearly $1 million a year fostering U.S.-ASEAN ties, said there were threats to continued growth.

Investment needed to diversify from the large-scale projects in petroleum and electronics which pioneered foreign investment here, he said.