During the 1990s, the governments of South Asian countries acted as ‘facilitators’ to attract FDI. As a result, the inflow of FDI increased. However, to become an attractive FDI destination as China, Singapore, or Brazil, South Asia has to improve the local conditions of doing business. This book, based on research that blends theory, empirical evidence, and policy, asks and attempts to answer a few core questions relevant to FDI policy in South Asian countries: Which major reforms have succeeded? What are the factors that influence FDI inflows? What has been the impact of FDI on macroeconomic performance? Which policy priorities/reforms needed to boost FDI are pending? These questions and answers should interest policy makers, academics, and all those interested in FDI in the South Asian region and in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

By analysing foreign direct investment (FDI) in a macroeconomic framework, this study throws new light on various channels through which FDI influences saving, investment, growth, and the balance of payments on current account. The finding that FDI has differential impacts in a sample of five Southeast Asian and eleven other developing countries leads to several policy conclusions. First, FDI is attracted for privatization or debt-equity swap programmes, it may provide additional or alternative balance-of-payments support, but will not accelerate capital formation or economic growth. Second, in the presence of financial and trade distortions, FDI can remove from the host country more that it contributes. In other words, it can be immeserizing. Third, the most efficacious way of encouraging FDI is to implement policies that generally improve the investment climate. Where domestically financed investment is booming, FDI will seek to participate. Finally, maximum benefit from FDI can be achieved in open economies that are free of domestic distortions such as financial repression and trade controls.

This study discusses the role assigned to foreign firms in the development strategies of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand in the past and looks at how a more balanced approach to the treatment of foreign investors could contribute to a more sustainable development path.

This book explains the dynamics behind southeast Asia's foreign investment activity, and looks at the region's options for reviving its reputation as an attractive host for foreign investors. Each chapter focuses on a key element; together, they portray southeast Asia's foreign investment profile and prospects. By bringing these key interlocking elements together under a single cover, the book aims to provide a more profound understanding of the challenges southeast Asian countries face in their on-going attempts both to attract new foreign investment inflows and to continue hosting substantial existing foreign-invested assets.

This report analyzes how closer regional connectivity and economic integration between South Asia and Southeast Asia can benefit both regions, with a focus on the role played by infrastructure and public policies in facilitating this process. It examines major developments in South Asian–Southeast Asian trade and investment, economic cooperation, the role of economic corridors, and regional cooperation initiatives. In particular, it identifies significant opportunities for strengthening these integration efforts as a result of the recent opening up of Myanmar in political, economic, and financial terms. This is particularly the case for land-based transportation—highways and railroads—and energy trading. The report’s focus is on connectivity in a broad sense, covering both hardware and software, including investment in infrastructure, energy trading, trade facilitation, investment financing, and support for national and regional policies.

Foreign direct investments (FDI) play an integral role in the growth story of Emerging Asian economies. As an essential source of foreign capital, FDI bolsters the path to economic recovery from recessions, including the one caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This book is a collection of essays investigating the reconfiguration of FDI flows to the Emerging Asian economies of ASEAN, China and India following the pandemic and FDI policy reforms. This book broadly covers the trends in greenfield FDI flows to Emerging Asia in the context of three pertinent themes. Part I explores the rebalancing effects in global FDI flows after the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the experience of Emerging Asian economies. We also evaluate the nature of the pandemic’s impact on existing FDI linkages between China and ASEAN. Part II delves into the implications of a cross-border policy framework such as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). In particular, we examine ASEAN trade activity after China's investments through BRI. We further discuss the future of BRI in ASEAN economies amid the emergence of global competitors. Part III of the book zooms in on the effectiveness of domestic FDI policy reforms. We discuss the cases of Indonesia Special Economic Zones and the Make in India initiative. This book is written for scholars, policymakers and industrial practitioners who wish to gain more knowledge on the recent FDI dynamics of Emerging Asia.

Globalization, accelerated by information technologies, has increased the speed of business transactions and has reduced the distances between international businesses. This growth has transformed the realm of foreign investment in countries around the world, calling for a methodological approach to planning feasible capital investment proposals in general and foreign direct investment projects. Foreign Direct Investments: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications is a vital reference source that explores the importance of global stocks to economic structures and explores the effects that these holdings have on the financial status of nations. It also provides a systems approach to investment projects in a globalized and open society. Highlighting a range of topics such as foreign direct investors, risk analysis, and sourcing strategies, this multi-volume book is ideally designed for business managers, executives, international companies, entrepreneurs, researchers, academicians, graduate students, policymakers, investors, and project managers.

This book analyses the growth, development and crisis experiences of the Southeast Asian economies, in particular, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand - also known as ASEAN-5. The proposition is developed that the robust economic performance of the Southeast Asian economies during the past four decades has been attributed to the various factors, developments and independent national policies which have been pursued by the individual member countries rather than to any regional economic framework. The book covers eleven topics which is suitable for a one-semester course on the economics of Southeast Asia. Also, it has a narrower area coverage as it focuses only on the five economies, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. The sectoral treatment of the crisis impact and the analytical treatment of policy responses to the crisis differentiate this book from other publications on the same topic. Finally, this book provides an analysis of national developments, policies and factors which have contributed to the economic transformation of the respective Southeast Asian economies.

Regional economic engagement within South Asia may gain increasing importance owing to several factors that are currently in play, including strategies to diversify global value chains and locate such value chains nearer home. These developments offer South Asia a chance to enhance its low levels of regional economic engagement and capitalize on significant unrealized development opportunities.This report shows that examining intraregional investment and knowledge connectivity enhances our understanding of the low levels of intraregional trade and limited regional value chains in South Asia. Creating a new and unique data set for South Asian investment, it provides a detailed and nuanced understanding of the drivers of outward investment, both regional and global, for South Asian firms. “Regional Investment Pioneers in South Asia” provides key considerations for policy makers in South Asia, which remain particularly relevant in the aftermath of the pandemic.This report follows on, and is complementary to, the earlier World Bank report, “A Glass Half Full: the Promise of Regional Trade in South Asia.”