China, India and Singapore attracted 57% of the FDI projects in Asia-Pacific in 2011, according to The fDi Report 2012, released by fDi Intelligence. India was the strongest performing country with a 21% growth in FDI projects in 2011, following just 1% growth in 2010. The impact of the natural disasters in Japan and Thailand is clearly evident in the sharp decline in FDI in both countries. Hong Kong had a strong year, with its number of projects growing by 6%, after a 21% drop in 2010.

In terms of the size of projects, Indonesia, Pakistan and South Korea each recorded growth in capital investment in 2011 of more than 70% after securing large-scale investment projects. Examples include Cyprus-based Solway Group announcing a $3bn nickel smelting plant in Indonesia, and United Arab Emirates-based Al Ghurair Group announcing plans to develop a $700m oil refinery in Pakistan. The top-performing country for attracting new jobs was China, which saw more than 340,000 jobs created as a result of inward FDI.

Analysing FDI overseas, Japan, India and China accounted for more than 60% of FDI projects from Asia-Pacific countries in 2011. Japan remained the dominant outward investor, establishing more FDI projects overseas than India and China combined. Japan’s position is even more important when the size of projects is considered, with companies from the country creating nearly 300,000 jobs overseas; 40% of total overseas job creation generated by Asia-Pacific countries.

Of the major investing countries, Hong Kong and Australia recorded the fastest growth in outward FDI projects, with percentage growth rates of 23% and 21%, respectively. In Thailand, flooding over the monsoon season seems to have encouraged domestic companies to invest overseas. In terms of capital investment overseas, Indian, Hong Kong and Vietnamese companies each increased their outward FDI by more than 70% in 2011.

To download the full report, please visit www.fdiintelligence.com/fDiReport