New Delhi, July 12 (Inditop.com) Singapore is the largest investor in India among the 10 ASEAN countries with its investments rising from Rs.1,416.9 crore in 2005 to Rs.15,775.9 crore in 2008, says an industry lobby report released Sunday.
Malaysia ranks second, with its investments in India going up from Rs.21.3 crore in 2005 to Rs.453.8 crore in 2008, according to the report by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
ASEAN is a geo-political and economic organisation of 10 Southeast Asian countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam – that was formed to accelerate economic growth, social progress, cultural development and foster peace among members.
According to FICCI, cooperation with the ASEAN block is expected to get a shot in the arm when India signs the Foreign Trade Agreement with it next month.
The FICCI analysis shows that while foreign investment inflow from Thailand actually came down from Rs.23.3 crore in 2005 to Rs.12.9 crore in 2008, inflow from Indonesia rose from Rs.4.2 crore to Rs.24.5 crore.
Inflows from Myanmar, which invested a measly Rs.23 lakh between August 1991 and December 2005, raised its stakes sharply in India with inflows shooting up to a whopping Rs.34.7 crore in 2008.
Inflows from the Philippines actually dropped from Rs.4.2 crore in 2005 to Rs.70 lakh in 2008. There was no investment from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Brunei in these two years.
During this period, the services sector accounted for about 30 percent of inflows from ASEAN – the highest.
