Southeast Asia is "relatively insulated" from rising geopolitical tensions
Investors are starting to take a second look at Asian countries for investment, with Indonesia and Malaysia emerging as among the most appealing in the region. The countries constantly figure on global investment banks' top picks for foreign investment targets globally or just in Asia, along with list staples Singapore, Hong Kong, China, and India.
Both situated in Southeast Asia, the countries played a large part in drawing $175 billion of foreign direct investments (FDI) to the subregion in 2021 and a record-high $619 billion for all of Asia the same year, according to the World Investment Report 2022 of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTD) that was published on Jun. 9.
With a GDP of $1.12 trillion and a population of 271 million, Indonesia ranked second in the 2021 Best Countries to Invest In ranking of U.S. News. Meanwhile, Malaysia, with a GDP of $365 billion and a population of 31.9 million, ranked fifth.
