The Foreign Direct Investments in South-East Asia during the Last Two Decades

Foreign direct investments have played an important role in the economic development of ASEAN states, especially after the 1990's. However, the two economic crises, from 1997 and 2007, have significantly influenced the investments’ inflows in South-East Asia, each country from the region experiencing a different evolution of the FDI. The purposes of the present paper are to analyse the trends of the ASEAN's inward FDI between 1990 and present, by identifying the factors that have encouraged or discouraged these flows in the context of the two crises, and to estimate the possible future evolution of these investments. In order to achieve these purposes, we have analysed and interpreted information included in several statistical reports, data-bases and year-books. The conclusions underline that, despite the economic downturns, South-East Asia will continue to attract the investors due to its competitive advantages.