UAE firms lead in GCC investments in ASEAN: Dubai Chamber

UAE firms lead in GCC investments in ASEAN: Dubai Chamber

Companies in the UAE have taken the lead in exploring growth opportunities in the ASEAN markets, with the majority of GCC investments (74 percent) made over the last five years coming from the Emirates, according to a whitepaper released on Monday. Between January 2016 and September 2021, GCC investments in markets under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which include Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia and Cambodia, among others, reached $13.4 billion, said the report produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and commissioned by Dubai Chamber. The investments include UAE’s B2B e-commerce provider Distichain’s foray into Singapore and DP World ’s $1.2 billion deal with Maspion Group to build an international container port and industrial logistics park in Java, Indonesia. One of the latest, and possibly the largest, investments was the announcement in July 2021 by Mubadala-owned GlobalFoundries, that it will set up a $4 billion semiconductor plant in Singapore. “This is indicative of the UAE’s ambitions on the global stage and highlights its intention to play a role in alleviating the current global shortage in semiconductors as well as its reliance on countries in Asia to realise these goals,” the report said. Oil and petrochem The