Malaysia’s Foreign Direct Investments Underperform ASEAN and the World in 2020: UN Agency

According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)’s Investment Trends Monitor report, foreign direct investments (FDI) into Malaysia dropped by 68% year-on-year (YoY) to USD 2.5 billion in 2020. According to the report, FDI in the whole of Southeast Asia decreased by 31% YoY in 2020 to reach US$107 billion, with Singapore falling by 37% YoY, Indonesia by 24% YoY and Vietnam by 10% YoY.

In Thailand, FDI dropped 50% YoY to USD 1.5 billion in 2020, consequent to Tesco, United Kingdom selling its stores to a Thailand-based investor group for USD 9.9 billion. However, the Philippines saw FDI increasing by 29% YoY to USD 6.4 billion.

The report indicated that in most developing countries FDI dropped by around 12% YoY in 2020, whereas develo...