I am pleased to share with you the ASEAN Investment Report 2015, a joint publication by UNCTAD and the ASEAN Secretariat. The report was launched on 20th November at the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur to an audience consisting of over 1000 Ministers, businesses leaders, policy makers and others from the 10 ASEAN member countries and other parts of the world.
This year’s report highlights the role of corporate players in infrastructure development and regional connectivity.
ASEAN Member States are economically connected through the operations of MNEs and ASEAN companies, especially their regional value chains and production networks. The report analyses a number of such chains and networks, especially in infrastructure, and provides cases of corporate contribution to connectivity in ASEAN.
In order to further boost regional connectivity and bolster regional development, UNCTAD estimates that at least $110 billion a year will be needed through to 2025 – covering power, transportation, ICT, and water and sanitation. Private companies, including MNEs, have a significant role to play in this process and can potentially tap into more than $10 trillion of assets held by the sector in the region alone.
The report also analyses the reasons for a third consecutive year of increased FDI flows to ASEAN, from $117.7 billion in 2013 to $136.2 billion in 2014. Intra-ASEAN investment also continued to rise, to $24.4 billion in 2014 from $19.4 billion in 2013.
Foreign MNEs and ASEAN companies are establishing stronger regional footprints, partly in anticipation of opportunities arising from the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by the end of the year. The AEC will transform ASEAN into a single market comprising some 625 million people with a combined GDP of $2.4 trillion.
Best regards,
James Zhan
Director, Investment and Enterprise
Team leader, World Investment Report
UNCTAD,
Palais des Nations, Geneva
Tel: +41 22 917 5797
www.unctad.org/diae;
www.unctad.org/wir
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