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

Investment flows plunged globally by 35% in 2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis. The fall was heavily skewed towards developed economies. Global foreign direct investment (FDI) flows are expected to bottom out in 2021 and recover some lost ground with an increase of 10% to 15%, according to UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2021, published on 21 June. FDI flows plunged globally by 35% in 2020, to $1 trillion from $1.5 trillion the previous year, the report says. Lockdowns caused b

"ASEAN is poised to become a dramatic consumption opportunity, driven by four mega-forces: strong demographic trends; rising income levels; geopolitical shifts increasing foreign investment; and digital advances opening new consumer markets." Over the next decade, ASEAN will become the world’s fourth-largest economy with a roughly $4 trillion USD consumer market. While the entire region will offer abundant growth opportunities, each market will evolve differently. Eight key c

Decoupling Between Washington and Western Industry By Scott Kennedy and Shining Tan Although the Trump administration does not openly embrace the idea of decoupling, its various policies – restrictions on high-tech exports to China, expanded investment limits, and efforts to have American companies move production out of China and on-shore manufacturing in the United States – effectively add up to a decoupling strategy. There are some signs that because of the trade war and o