Together, the top five destination countries in the Asia-Pacific region received 67% of total FDI projects that located in the region last year. China continued to dominate during 2008, attracting 29% of total number of projects. However, China has been slowly losing market share, which has declined from 41% in 2004, gradually decreasing by a couple of per cent each year since then.
In terms of capital investment, the top five destination countries collectively received 80% of total investment into the region, with China receiving almost one-quarter of all investment created through FDI projects in Asia-Pacific.
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China and India dominate
Of the total 1,494,798 jobs created in the Asia-Pacific region, the large majority (75%) were created in the top five countries. Furthermore, China and India alone accounted for 55% of jobs created in the region.
Thailand showed the strongest growth in terms of number of FDI projects of all the Asia-Pacific countries during 2008, doubling its market share from 3% to 6% and moving from ninth to fourth most popular destination country in the region. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Indonesia and India also showed strong growth.
Shanghai leads again
Shanghai continued to attract the largest number of foreign investors during 2008, securing 267 FDI projects. However, taking a closer look at its market share over the past few years, there is a noticeable decline from a record 12% in 2004 to 5% in 2008.
This loss in market share has not been to the sole benefit of any other individual city but rather to the advantage of many, and in particular small emerging cities.
Although Shanghai was the top destination city in terms of capital investment, it only accounted for 3% of the total into Asia-Pacific. This is relatively low in comparison to the leading cities in the other regions as investment tends to be less concentrated within Asia-Pacific than within other regions. Examining more closely, it is within China itself that investment is less concentrated, with multiple cities in China being chosen by foreign investors.
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Beijing was a very close contender for the top spot with number of projects increasing by 30% during 2008. Although this growth is positive, it is in line with the average annual increase for 2008 and more might have been expected of Beijing, as it hosted the 2008 Olympics.
Singapore and Tokyo have remained within the top five destination cities in Asia-Pacific, however both cities showed a decline in actual projects recorded of -8% and -1%, respectively, during 2008. Bangkok showed the highest growth of 130%, which led to a doubling of its market share to almost 2% and a move from 19th to eighth on the league table.
Growth Comparisons: Countries in Asia-Pacific