SINGAPORE, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into ASEAN remained resilient through 2025 and early 2026, supported by continued investment in manufacturing, financial services and artificial intelligence (AI)-related sectors, OCBC Group Research said on Tuesday.
FDI into the region is expected to remain on an upward trajectory over the medium term, underpinned by supply-chain diversification, expanding AI and data center investments, and continued policy reforms, the research house said in a note.
However, authorities are increasingly shifting their focus from the quantity of investment to its quality, seeking greater domestic value creation, employment generation and sustainable resource utilization.
Against a backdrop of narrowing basic balances, volatile portfolio flows and potentially tighter global monetary conditions, maintaining a steady pipeline of long-term FDI will be critical to supporting external stability and sustaining regional growth, it said.
Total FDI inflows into ASEAN rose to 245.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2025 from 223.1 billion dollars in 2024. Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines accounted for 236.7 billion dollars of the total in 2025, with Singapore alone attracting 151 billion dollars.
Early indicators for 2026 also remained encouraging. Combined FDI inflows into the six economies rose 5.5 percent year-on-year to 60.9 billion dollars in the first quarter, from 57.8 billion dollars a year earlier.
The trend, however, was uneven, with inflows declining in Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, while Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam recorded increases, according to OCBC. ■
