Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to Taiwan amounted to a new high of US$8.16 billion last year, an increase of nearly 10 percent over 2006, the UN World Investment Report 2008 released on Wednesday showed.
That amount made Taiwan the seventh-largest FDI recipient in Asia behind China, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Thailand and Malaysia, the report published by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said.
Outward FDI from Taiwan rose by 50 percent over 2006 to US$11.11 billion, putting the country in sixth place in the region behind Hong Kong, China, South Korea, India and Singapore.
South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia and Oceania together remained the largest FDI recipient among developing regions and transition economies last year.
FDI inflows to the region rose 18 percent to a record high of US$249 billion last year, thanks to general improvements in the investment environment and significant cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
M&A amounted to almost US$82 billion last year — an increase of 33 percent over 2006 — with more than 75 percent concentrated in Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Taiwan and India, the UNCTAD report said.
The US recorded the largest FDI inflows at US$232.8 billion last year, followed by the UK, France, Canada, the Netherlands, China and Hong Kong.
While FDI inflows to China jumped 15 percent from 2006 to reach US$83.52 billion last year, those to Hong Kong soared by 33 percent to amount to US$59.89 billion.
Taiwan ranked 111th worldwide last year in terms of the Inward FDI Performance Index, up from 122nd in 2006 and marking the highest ranking scored by Taiwan in the past five years.
In terms of the Inward FDI Potential Index, Taiwan’s ranking dropped one notch from 2005 to 17th in 2006 — the most recent year for which data is available.
Taiwan was grouped in the category of countries “below potential” — defined as having high FDI potential but low FDI performance.
In terms of the Outward FDI Performance Index, Taiwan took 34th place worldwide last year, down from 31st in 2006 and 28th in 2005.
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