According to greenfield investment monitor fDi Markets, there was a slump in FDI in Asia-Pacific's customer contact centre sector between January 2010 and December 2013. During this period, 174 projects were recorded, creating 72,292 jobs. These projects represent total capital investment of $1.02bn.

The Philippines was the country with the most FDI investment in the period, with 67 projects. India was the second highest recipient with 43 projects. China and Australia were the third and fourth, with 17 and 11 projects, respectively. The top investing countries included the US, with 82 projects, the UK with 18 and India with 14. These countries recorded total aggregate investment of $692.70m in the four-year period. The company that launched the most projects was US-based Convergys, followed by Japan-based KDDI, UK-based Serco and US-based Sitel (ClientLogic).     

FDI was at a record high in 2010, but project numbers declined by 28.8% in 2011. There was an even larger decline in jobs created in this period, with a 41.1% decrease recorded between 2010 and 2011. An even larger decline in job creation occurred between 2012 and 2013, when the total number of jobs created by FDI declined by 41.7%.

Project numbers saw a slight increase in 2012, when there were 41 investments, but there was a downward trend in the years following, with project numbers decreasing to 32 in 2013 and 26 in 2014. The decline looks set to continue in 2014, with 26 projects recorded in the first 11 months of the year. With only one month of unpublished data, it is unlikely that figures will significantly improve.