We have, over the last few weeks, established the importance of investments to the development of a country. And we have provided concrete data linking the growth in productive assets to job creation, disposable incomes and living standards for the people. We also discussed the critical role of foreign direct investments (FDIs), particularly for developing countries — as the catalyst for local human capital development, productivity improvements, tapping of new markets and domestic investments.
Asean lost some of its lustre in the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis (AFC), but has since enjoyed robust foreign capital inflows, especially in the past decade. According to the latest UNCTAD World Investment Report, the region saw FDI grow 44% year on year last year, rebounding from the drop due to the pandemic in 2020 (see Chart 1 for a quick recap of inward FDI for Asean post-AFC).
