The outlook for infrastructure investment is strong due to COVID-19 stimulus packages, but investment in industry remains weak. And while high-income countries more than doubled quarterly FDI inflows, low-income economies suffered a further 9% decline. Global foreign direct investment (FDI) flows in the first half of 2021 reached an estimated $852 billion, showing stronger than expected rebound momentum, according to UNCTAD’s Investment Trends Monitor released on 18 October.

Four economy-wide factors—governance, education, infrastructure, and trade policy—relate closely to more varied and complex exports across countries As the world’s biggest copper producer, Chile’s shipments of the metal meet around one-third of global demand and represent about half its goods exports. But beyond mining’s dominance, Chile’s trade flows are more varied and complex than they may appear, with significant exports of vehicles, pharmaceuticals and telecommunications

Beijing has applied to join an Asia-Pacific trade pact once pushed by the US as a way to isolate China and solidify American dominance in the region. China submitted the formal application letter to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to New Zealand, according to a statement late on Thursday (Spet 16) in Beijing. Commerce Minister Wang Wentao had a follow-up call with his counterpart Damien O’Connor, as New Zealand is the dep

Asia is the world’s consumption growth engine — miss Asia and you could miss half of the global picture, a $10 trillion consumption growth opportunity over the next decade. Scale continues to be a key characteristic, but the story of the next ten years and beyond is one of rising diversity in consumer markets in this already diverse region amid significant social, demographic, and technological change. Three changes in perspective are key to understanding the new consumption

Companies have reason to be sceptical about investing in Asia in general, and in China in particular, but Asian investment could still be a good bet. Issues such as intellectual property protection and the US-China trade wars could dissuade some companies from investing in Asia in general, and China in particular, but there is still plenty of interest in the region. In China, Beijing is tightening its grip on its thriving tech industry, forcing companies such as Alipay to hol

About two-thirds of developing countries are now economically dependent on commodities, such as cacao, copper and oil. A country is considered to be commodity dependent when more than 60% of its total merchandise exports are composed of commodities. Given that commodity dependence can have a negative impact on a country’s economic development, it is important to monitor the evolution of such dependence in countries throughout the world. UNCTAD's State of Commodity Dependence

In the ongoing disruption of the global economy, Vietnam is emerging as a clear winner. Its economy is expected to grow by 4.8% of GDP in 2021, according to the World Bank. To be sure, the Covid-19 pandemic has hit Vietnam this summer, after the country was largely successful at curtailing the virus in 2020. That will hurt the country’s second half of 2021, but long-term trends still support Vietnam establishing itself as a major economic power. Crucial to its rise are powerf

TDM Insight: China Trade Statistics Show Supply Chain Disruption. By John W. Miller, Chief Economic Analyst - Trade Data Monitor The global economy is getting back to normal, but supply chains are not exactly returning to where they were before the Covid-19 pandemic. Consider this: In August, Chinese shipments of textiles fell 14.8% year-on-year, off a low base in 2020, to $12.5 billion, and exports of mobile phones declined 24.4% to $7.4 billion. However, sales of motor vehi

Fascinating to see how many of the brands are based in Asia or grew due to Asian markets The Briefing The fastest growing brand on the list is Tesla, which isn’t surprising—the company’s stock increased by almost 700% in 2020. What happened for Tesla last year to warrant such a boost? The company entered the SUV market with its launch of the Model Y, and started production in China, which increased sales in the country by 90% in the first 9 months of 2020. TikTok, which ranks

Latest Infographic from Hinrich Foundation: Foreign direct investment (FDI) has been transformational for the global economy, in particular for the Asia Pacific region. For evidence of FDI's impact, we look no further than China in our latest infographic. In many countries, FDI outperforms aid, remittances, and portfolio investments as the largest source of external financing. The investments create jobs, boosts incomes and productivity, improves management expertise, and spu

As part of our commitment to Asia FDI, Trade, Export and Market Access we are pleased to announce new regional partnerships to support Governments, Chambers and Businesses to access and grow across Asia Pacific: - Missouri Department of Economic Development (USA) - State of Missouri (USA) - Atlantic Canada Chambers of Commerce - Asia Market Development Program (Canada) - Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Malaysia) - OCO Global (UK) - Dentsu Tracking (Switzerland) -

KW Group delighted to support Atlantic Canada Chamber of Commerce, Asia Market Development Program What is the AMDP? The Asia Market Development Program (AMDP) is a powerful advisory and consultation program that is helping Atlantic Canada exporters expand their presence and grow sales in new industry sectors and countries in Asia. The AMDP provides exporters with the in-market expertise and network to quickly identify opportunity and connect with qualified customers. Your co

Advances in production technology and a trend towards shorter supply chains make a return to “business as usual” highly unlikely. By David East and Martin G. Kaspar The impact of the pandemic on both global trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) has been dramatic. Even now, as some countries begin easing their restrictions to breathe life back into their flailing economies, the full effects of this virus are yet to be fully understood. Certainly, this pandemic has acceler

Article by James Zhan, Director of Investment and Enterprise, UNCTAD courtesy of FDI Intelligence. The Covid-19 pandemic caused a triple economic shock — it hit supply, demand and policy-making at the same time. Foreign direct investment (FDI) paid the highest price as its drop in 2020 was significantly sharper than the drop in global gross domestic product (GDP) and trade. Looking ahead, I am cautiously optimistic about global FDI prospects in 2021, and more optimistic for 2

Analysis of recent UNCTAD's World Investment Report presented by UOB FDI Advisory Global flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) have been hit harder by the coronavirus pandemic than the global financial crisis of 2008-2009. According to a 2021 report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), global FDI flows dropped one-third from US$1.5 trillion in 2019 to US$1 trillion in 2020. In fact, 2020's FDI flows were 20 percent lower than in 2009 after th

By John W. Miller, Chief Economic Analyst - Trade Data Monitor: China’s industrial sector is headed for a slowdown in the second half of 2021, according to an analysis by Trade Data Monitor, the world’s premier source of trade statistics. In July, overall exports increased 19.4%, to $282.7 billion, compared to the same month a year earlier, below analysts’ expectations. In June, they had increased 32.2% year-on-year. Imports in July rose 28.1% year-on-year, to $226.1 billion,

As the world emerges from an unprecedented pandemic-induced economic slump, Asia is once again garnering the attention of international investors and multinational corporations in the form of large-scale inflows of portfolio and direct investments into strategic economic sectors. Unlike the period following the 2008 Global Financial Crisis where the focus on Asian economies was almost exclusively realized by corporate and institutional investors, in the post-pandemic era, gov

Starting a new business isn’t as simple as coming up with an idea. In addition to the time investment needed to formulate and create a business, there’s often a hefty capital requirement. A new business usually requires paying different fees for licensing, permits, and approvals, and many governments also have minimum on-hand capital requirements. And costs are relative. Though it might be more costly to start a business in some countries on paper, affordability also takes in

GDP per capita has steadily risen globally over time, and in tandem, the standard of living worldwide has increased immensely. This map using data from the IMF shows the GDP per capita (nominal) of nearly every country and territory in the world. GDP per capita is one of the best measures of a country’s wealth as it provides an understanding of how each country’s citizens live on average, showing a representation of the quantity of goods and services created per person. The S

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China on Monday celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of their dialogue relations. Since the relations began in July 1991, bilateral trade volume had soared from less than 8 billion U.S. dollars to more than 680 billion dollars last year. With such a strong foundation, the two sides have pledged to enhance cooperation in all sectors to open a new chapter in ASEAN-China common development and prospe