ASEAN has proven the ability to weather financial crisis. Today, amid global financial uncertainties, ASEAN has shown not just resilience but also growth. The region’s GDP rate in the recent years averaged around 5%. The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) projects that ASEAN will sustain this growth and will average 5.5% over 2013-2017, reaching growth momentum during the pre-crisis.

Foreign Direct Investments

ASEAN’s resilience contributed to the region’s increased attractiveness among investors in recent years. Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) inflows to ASEAN reached US$114 billion in 2011, up 24% from US$93 billion in 2010 and 141% higher compared to US$47.4 billion in 2009. ASEAN’s FDI is 8 percent of the world’s total FDI, 17 percent of all developing economies’, and 28 percent of Asia’s.

In the past recent years, more than three quarters of ASEAN’s FDI inflow came from outside the region. A total of US$47.7 billion or 40% of the total FDI were from ASEAN’s dialogue partners including Australia, Canada, China, EU, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia, and the United States. The largest FDI came from EU at US$18.2 billion, followed by Japan with US$15 billion worth of investments. Intra-ASEAN FDI was at record high in 2011 as it reached US$26.3 billion, or almost a quarter of ASEAN’s total FDI.

ASEAN’s FDI outflow figures are also at record high at US$60 billion in 2011, higher by 36 percent compared to previous year. Singapore has the largest investment outflow contribution amounting to US$25 billion, followed by Thailand (US$11 billion) and Indonesia (US$8 billion).

For more information on ASEAN investment, see the ASEAN Investment Report 2012.