ASEAN offers consistently high returns on investment as compared with the world average and that of developing countries. In 2018, the East and Southeast Asian inward FDI rates of return amounted to approximately 9.4 percent, higher compared to global FDI rate of return of 6.5 percent.¹

Private companies are confident about their future in the region.  More than 6,200 American companies operate in ASEAN, where ASEAN has received nearly $346 billion in investments from the United States. Based on the ASEAN Business Outlook Survey 2022, 89% of US companies anticipate that their trade and investment in ASEAN will increase over the next five years.²

Global Players

Global players in various industries are present in ASEAN.  A lot are expanding and seeing the emerging opportunities and potential from ASEAN integration. 

The world’s top global brands (as ranked by Interbrand), have made their way to the region. These include retail brands such as Nike, Zara, Louis Vuitton,Chanel and Hermes; automotives like Toyota, Mercedes Benz, Nissan, BMW, Honda, and Hyundai; electronics such as Apple, Samsung, Sony, and Philips; financial companies like J.P. Morgan, Citi, VISA, and HSBC; information technology companies like IBM, Google, Oracle, and Cisco; and food and drinks such as Coca Cola, McDonald’s, Pepsi, Nescafe, and KFC³

More than 80% of the world’s global Fortune 500 companies operate in the region including via non-equity modalities such as contract manufacturing, contract farming, licensing and franchising.  The top 10 global automotive companies and top 10 global auto parts manufacturers are in ASEAN, and there are 3 companies among the top 10, such as Walmart, Amazon, and Apple, that operate in ASEAN.⁴

ASEAN also takes pride in hosting the world’s leading consumer electronics and a number of global pharmaceutical and chemical companies.  Apple, Dell, HP, LG, Microsoft, Panasonic, Samsung, and Sony are some of the electronic companies with multiple plants in the region.   AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson and Johnson, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, and Sanofi-Aventis have production or R&D facilities in ASEAN.