ABSTRACT
Asia is presently one of the three major industrial regions of the world and its countries constitute a central part of the global business milieu in this new century. This is reflected in the fact that Asia remains one of the major destinations for foreign direct investment (FDI). Although, owing to the recent economic slowdown in global economic activity, global inflows of FDI fell by 53 per cent between 2000 and 2002 (from US$1,393 billion to US$651 billion) FDI inflows into Asia decreased by only 33 per cent (from US$142 billion in 2000 to US$95 billion in 2002), thereby increasing Asiaʼs share of global FDI inflows from 10.2 per cent to 14.6 per cent (UNCTAD 2003). However, business conditions in Asia are changing fast, in part as a consequence of the increased uncertainty about global economic growth. However, in our opinion, more important are the current and future changes in business conditions in Asia that are stemming from regional developments, such as the emergence of China, the Asian Financial Crisis and the resulting need for restructuring of Asian economies.
