Share the article
twitter-iconcopy-link-iconprint-icon
share-icon
Rankings & dataMay 1 2012

Singapore and Hong Kong fight off Asian FDI rivals

Singapore and Hong Kong continue to attract the highest levels of foreign direct investment among Asian international finance centres. But there is change afoot elsewhere, with increasing levels of investment in Beijing causing it to replace Shanghai as the third most attractive Asian IFC for FDI.
Share the article
twitter-iconcopy-link-iconprint-icon
share-icon
Singapore and Hong Kong fight off Asian FDI rivals
Singapore and Hong Kong top Asia IFC FDI rankingTABLE

Singapore and Hong Kong top the ranking of international financial centres (IFCs) in Asia by the volume of foreign direct investments (FDI) into their financial sectors. Capital expenditure for the rankings has been calculated by adding estimated values for projects where information had not been disclosed to publicly available information.

Between March 2011 and February 2012, Singapore attracted $2.79bn of FDI and Hong Kong $2.4bn, and their combined totals accounted for more than half of the total FDI into the Asian financial sector. Hong Kong recorded increases in both project numbers and capital expenditure, compared to the same period in 2010/11, and aggregate project numbers and capital expenditure for Asian IFCs also witnessed an increase. But, despite attracting 17 more projects in the 2011/12 period, Singapore recorded $342m less capital than in the 2010/11 period.

China's IFCs showed significant changes in FDI inflows between the two periods. There was a change in the third and fourth ranked IFCs in the most recent ranking, with Beijing displacing Shanghai as the third largest destination for financial FDI in Asia. Beijing recorded eight more projects and $470m more capital in the 2011/12 period compared with the 2010/11 period. Shenzhen also recorded a significant increase in the ranking, going to seventh from 11th position, despite recording no change in the number of projects or levels of capital invested in the two periods. 

The Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur also improved its position in the most recent ranking, going from 15th place to 10th, while Thailand's capital Bangkok and the Japanese city of Osaka – which sat in 12th and 13th position, respectively in the 2010/11 period – did not receive any FDI between March 2011 and February 2012 and therefore did not place in the most recent rankings.

It is estimated that 20,424 new jobs were created as a result of FDI into Asia’s IFCs between March 2011 and February 2012, a figure that is slightly lower than the estimate for 2010/11 of 21,071. Some 7633 jobs were created in Singapore in the 12 months up to February 2012 alone, a significant increase on the 5432 new jobs created in the 12 months up to February 2011.

Was this article helpful?

Thank you for your feedback!

Silvia Pavoni is editor in chief of The Banker. Silvia also serves as an advisory board member for the Women of the Future Programme and for the European Risk Management Council, and is part of the London council of non-profit WILL, Women in Leadership in Latin America. In 2019, she was awarded an honorary fellowship by City University of London.
Read more articles from this author