Singapore tops ASEAN in investment attraction from world’s Big Four

Singapore continues to top ASEAN in terms of attracting investments from the world’s biggest economies of China, India, the US and Japan, the country’s Straits Times reported.

The latest quarterly Economic Insight review of the Institute for Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) showed that over 50 percent of foreign investments from these four countries are destined for Singapore. Notably, up to 97 percent of Indian investments are poured into the island country.

The study, which focuses on ASEAN’s largest economies of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, found that China’s investment pattern looks different from the others, as it has allocated substantial amounts of money to Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, 11 percent, 7 percent and 8 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, each of the other three giants has less than 0.1 percent of their investments in these emerging nations.

It also noted that the competition for influence in the region between China and other major economies will benefit ASEAN with the unlocking of Chinese-led capital in the form of the China-ASEAN Investment Cooperation Fund and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

Japan recently announced to invest 110 billion USD in infrastructure projects in Asia through the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The Straits Times quoted Scott Corfe, ICAEW economic adviser and associate director of the Centre for Business and Economic Research, as saying that ASEAN is showing how, rather than harming themselves through competition, structurally similar economies can complement each other and create cross-border networks.

“Each country can specialise to its full extent, with supply chains spreading across East Asia - so raw material extraction, processing, parts manufacture and assembly are all taking place in different locations. This means that the maximum gains from trade are being realised," he said.-VNA