Hong Kong larger than Singapore, Japan and Korea put together??

...Absolutely, when considering foreign direct investment last year. Top 3 were US, UK, and China, with HK climbing up this steep ladder fast...


Hong Kong climbs FDI ladder

Hong Kong ranked seventh in the world in attracting foreign direct investment in 2004, up four notches from a year ago, amid continued robust fund inflows into China, according to a report released by the UN Conference on Trade and Development.

Vanson Soo
Saturday, October 01, 2005

Hong Kong ranked seventh in the world in attracting foreign direct investment in 2004, up four notches from a year ago, amid continued robust fund inflows into China, according to a report released by the UN Conference on Trade and Development.
China, which ranked third globally and first in Asia, and Hong Kong together accounted for over two-thirds of FDI inflows in the region last year, it said.

"The flows into Hong Kong are larger than Singapore, Japan and Korea put together," said Mike Rowse, director general of investment promotion at Invest Hong Kong. "Hong Kong is a miracle by itself."

After three years of decline, global flows of FDI rose 2 percent to US$648 billion (HK$5.054 trillion) last year but inflows to developing countries jumped 40 percent to US$233 billion, the second largest on record.

Inflows to Hong Kong, a large part of which tend to be invested in China later, surged 150 percent to US$34 billion last year, and amounted to US$19.8 billion in the first half this year.

China remained the largest FDI recipient among developing countries last year, with US$60.5 billion, and was behind US$96 billion to the United States and US$78 billion to the UK globally.

UNCTAD said the figures for Hong Kong and China are boosted by increased merger and acquisition deals. Cross-border M&A sales in China were the largest in the region in 2004, it said.

The mainland's strong economic growth, an improved policy environment and further opening up of some sectors such as banking and financial services also helped attract FDI, it said.

"Most of the foreign direct investment flows around the world from developed to developing ... It's not just a simple case of rich to poor countries but the search for new opportunities, based on differentials in rates of return," said Richard Wong, deputy vice chancellor of the University of Hong Kong.

Still, Asian economies are also emerging as major sources of FDI as outflows from Asia and Oceania quadrupled to US$69 billion last year, due largely to dramatic growth from Hong Kong and China, according to the UNCTAD report.

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