Friday, August 29, 2008

Return On US Investments In S'pore Hits 34.8%

Source : The Business Times, August 29, 2008

Overall FDI return in 2006 averages an unchanged 20.5%

BAR the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands, the US scored the best returns on foreign direct investments in Singapore in 2006.

This was despite US direct investments here slipping to $37.1 billion, from $40.6 billion in 2005, according to figures released yesterday by the Department of Statistics.

The US achieved a 34.8 per cent return on its Singapore investments in 2006, up from 32.8 per cent the year before.

The respective returns for the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands were 36.1 and 77.9 per cent.

Overall, the average return on foreign direct investments in Singapore was 20.5 per cent in 2006 - the same as in 2005.

Total cumulative foreign direct investments here jumped 12.4 per cent from 2005 to $363.9 billion in 2006.

The stock of foreign equity rose 15.5 per cent to $365.9 billion, with most of it - 90.2 per cent - in direct equity investments and the remainder in portfolio equity investments.

Asia and Europe accounted for the bulk of foreign direct investments in Singapore in 2006 - 47.2 per cent from Europe and 22.4 per cent from Asia.

By country, the UK ($54.78 billion) was the largest foreign direct investor in 2006, followed by the Netherlands ($48.27 billion) and Japan ($45.02 billion).

The US was the fourth-largest foreign direct investor here.

The UK got only a 4.8 per cent return on its investments, down from 18 per cent in 2005 and among the lowest.

The Netherlands achieved a return of 24.3 per cent and Japan 12.1 per cent.

Among regions, Asia achieved a 12.6 per cent return, up from 11.4 per cent in 2005.

Europe's return fell to 17.4 per cent, from 19.5 per cent in 2005.

By industry, the wholesale and retail trade, hotels and restaurants offered the best investment returns in 2006 - 27.1 per cent, up from 23.6 per cent in 2005.

Led by petroleum products, the return for manufacturing was 22.9 per cent, down from 27 per cent in 2005.

According to the Department of Statistics, foreign direct investments in Singapore in 2006 were mainly in financial services (38.7 per cent) and manufacturing (29.9 per cent).

The wholesale and retail trade, hotels and restaurants (18.2 per cent) and transport and storage (6.2 per cent) sectors were also popular with foreign investors.

More than four-fifths of investments in financial and insurance services went into investment-holding companies.

In manufacturing, more than a third - 35.2 per cent - of investments were concentrated in pharmaceuticals, 29.7 per cent in electronics and 13.2 per cent in petroleum.

European investments in Singapore went mainly into manufacturing (37.7 per cent of Europe's total investments), financial services (35 per cent) and wholesale and retail trade, hotels and restaurants (14.4 per cent).

Asian investments went mainly into financial services (36.3 per cent) and wholesale and retail trade, hotels and restaurants (29 per cent).

While US direct investments in Singapore dipped in 2006, those from Europe - except Germany - rose, with Norwegian investments jumping 72.6 per cent to $14.8 billion.

Direct investments from the Netherlands increased 50 per cent, while those from the US went up 10.5 per cent.

Japan, which accounted for more than half - 55.3 per cent - of total Asian direct investments, saw its investments edge up 0.5 per cent in 2006.

South Korea raised its stake 29.8 per cent to $1.65 billion, and Hong Kong 29.3 per cent to $6.08 billion.

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