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| Director-General of Investment Promotion at InvestHK Mike Rowse says that the inflow of FDI to Hong Kong has been increasing over the past five years. |
Hong Kong’s status as one of the world’s and Asia’s leading destinations for foreign direct investment (FDI) and sources of outward FDI has been reaffirmed by the World Investment Report 2008, released September 25 by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
Hong Kong was the world’s seventh and Asia’s second largest FDI recipient, attracting US$59.9 billion inward investment in 2007. Mainland China ranked first in Asia Pacific in FDI inflows, reaching US$83.5 billion.
The United States remained the largest recipient country of FDI inflows, followed by the United Kingdom, France, Canada and the Netherlands.
Hong Kong was ranked No. 1 globally in the report’s “Inward FDI Performance Index,” which measures the amount of FDI relative to the size of the economy.
The report also found that outflows from Hong Kong, the largest source of FDI from the developing world, rose to US$53 billion in 2007 — more than twice the outflows from mainland China.
The report attributes the results to general improvements in the investment environment in the region, including further liberalization of FDI, strengthened regional economic integration, resilient economic growth and strong industrial development.
Globally, FDI inflows rose by 30 percent last year to reach an all-time high of US$1.83 trillion.
Director-General of Investment Promotion at Invest Hong Kong Mike Rowse welcomed the report’s findings, saying, “We are delighted that Hong Kong’s status as one of the world’s and Asia’s most attractive destinations for FDI has again been reaffirmed by UNCTAD. Being recognized as the world's best performing economy in inward FDI is especially gratifying.”
Looking ahead, Mr. Rowse said: “We believe Hong Kong will continue to be highly attractive to overseas and Mainland companies. The fundamentals of our investment environment are sound: rule of law, free flow of information, world-class infrastructure and clean government are all in place.”
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