March 19, 2010
For the first time ever, emerging markets claimed three of the top four destinations for foreign direct investment (FDI) according to the 2010 A.T. Kearney Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index. China (#1), India (#3) and Brazil (#4) were the headliners in a list of emerging market countries that claimed 19 out of the top 25 spots.
China remains the top destination for FDI—a title it’s held since 2002—attracting $108.3 billion from around the world in 2008. Seventy-two percent of investors see the Asia-Pacific region leading the world out of recession. Thirty-two percent see a positive outlook for China and 31 percent said the same for India.
Rounding out the top five is the United States, who regained the #2 slot from India and Germany at #5.
Poland, the only European Union member to avoid negative GDP growth in 2009, made the biggest jump from 2007—going from #22 all the way to #6. Poland managed just over one percent GDP growth in 2009 and that figure is expected to double in 2010.
Mexico jumped 11 spots to #8 and both Canada and Germany rose five spots up the FDI food chain. On the other hand, Hong Kong, Russia and Singapore suffered the biggest declines.
Nearly half of Kearney’s survey respondents say they have postponed investments due to market uncertainty and credit difficulties. This means it may be some time before we see FDI levels near the $2 trillion mark they were at in 2007.
For a detailed briefing on each country in the top 25, check out the BusinessWeek slideshow.
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