Publication

This paper reviews the growing importance of investment flows to the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) with the objective of analyzing the region’s relationship with the European Union. The paper states that the significant investment flows between the two regions are perhaps more a function of general ASEAN growth and increased openness than that of a concerted effort on the part of either partner to improve investment ties. The author also explains that since the Asian financial crisis, Southeast Asian countries have made attempts to attract stable long-term foreign capital investment by using a variety of national, bilateral, regional, and international policy instruments. This paper maps the response of the EU to the industrialization of individual member countries and to the development of ASEAN as a regional entity. The paper concludes with an overview of recent EU-ASEAN initiatives in order to assess the future potential for increased Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows.