RCEP助推東盟投資增長

莎朗·塞

受新冠肺炎疫情影響，東盟的外商直接投資減少了約1/3，大華銀行的一份報告顯示，《區域全面經濟伙伴關系協定》（RCEP）有望成為東盟經濟增長的新動力。

聯合國貿易和發展會議（貿發會議）一項數據顯示，2020年，東盟的外商直接投資為1070億美元（約合7027億元人民幣），降低了31%;全球平均降幅更大，達到42%。

盡管貿發會議警示，2021年的外商直接投資仍可能保持在較低水平，但大華銀行研究主管全德健認為，不少RCEP國家的經濟情況長期優于其他地區，RCEP有望成為推動東盟經濟復蘇的催化劑。

RCEP涵蓋東盟10國、中國、日本、韓國、澳大利亞和新西蘭，成員國人口占世界人口1/3，GDP總量占世界GDP的29%。在貿易規模上，比美墨加協議和歐盟都要大。

全德健表示，在RCEP地區采用協調的原產地規則，能讓成員國有更多的機會進行供應鏈轉移，實現供應鏈多樣化。在新冠肺炎疫情和中美關系等不確定因素的影響下，這些優勢顯得尤為重要。

不僅如此，他還指出，對于RCEP協定外的國家來說，面向RCEP成員國生產、出口也頗具吸引力，尤其是東盟和中國這樣的新興市場，吸引力更加明顯。

在外商投資方面，全德健表示，近年來，RCEP儼然已成為各國主要的投資目的地之一。究其原因，在于RCEP擁有龐大的經濟體量，其成員國經濟發展處在不同階段，成本結構和資源稟賦也不盡相同，有利于形成優勢互補。2020年，RCEP的外商投資占全球總量的37%，遙遙領先其他貿易組織。

貿發會議也指出，RCEP也深度融入全球價值鏈，占世界全球價值鏈貿易額的26%。

全德健認為，RCEP的全球價值鏈主要集中在中國，以及日本和韓國等老牌中心，這為越南、柬埔寨等周邊國家的貿易與投資創造了空間。他還指出，全球價值鏈與外商直接投資密切相關，RCEP內的五大全球價值鏈產業吸引了總價值超過半數的綠地投資（建立國際獨資或合資企業）項目。

“RCEP是近年來主要的投資目的地之一，在自貿協定生效后，它的地位將進一步得到鞏固?！比陆∪缡钦f，“不僅如此，RCEP深度融入全球價值鏈，中國正實行國內外雙循環戰略，東盟的人口和收入都在增長，這些因素也將成為吸引更多投資流入RCEP，特別是東盟國家的主要動力?！?/p>

但東盟國家2020年吸引投資的表現則是幾家歡喜幾家愁。菲律賓、越南、印尼表現較好，馬來西亞和泰國外商投資則有所下滑。盡管菲律賓稱其受到了2020年疫情的沖擊，遭遇了有史以來最嚴重的經濟衰退，但外商直接投資仍然增長了29%。

越南因對新冠肺炎疫情得當的控制，加上供應鏈和基礎設施的遷移，外商投資下降較少。

印尼的外商投資則“相對溫和地”下降了24%，為180億美元。全德健認為，印尼努力達到了2020的投資增長目標，外商投資前景光明。

東盟國家中，馬來西亞和泰國則遭遇了東盟最嚴重的外商投資縮減。

馬來西亞外商投資減少，部分原因在于政治環境不穩定和疫情期間人員流動限制?！暗?020年前三季度，馬來西亞審批通過的投資超過了1000億林吉特（約合1583億元人民幣），尤其是制造業審批通過的投資數額增長強勁。一旦得到落實，這些項目將為馬來西亞今后吸引投資鋪平道路。”

而根據聯合國貿發會議，泰國外商投資縮減歸因于一家外資連鎖超市2020年年內被泰國投資集團撤資。全德健表示，由于此前泰國在外商投資方面一直相對落后于其他國家，泰國的投資前景并不特別樂觀。“吸引投資的激烈競爭仍將持續數年，泰國的未來充滿了挑戰。”他補充道。

由于疫情和國際經濟形勢低迷，新加坡的外商投資縮減了37%，共580億美元（約合3809億元人民幣），超過了東盟整體降比。貿發會議表示，這在很大程度上源于新加坡的跨境并購銳減了86%，外資收購也有所放緩。全德健表示“盡管如此，新加坡的外商投資前景依然樂觀，區域經濟有望在2021年回升，凸顯了新加坡作為局部投資窗口的區位優勢。”

他還指出，新加坡在2020年吸引到了127億美元（約合834億元人民幣）的固定投資，這是自2008年以來的最大數額。新加坡的下一目標是實現制造業增長50%，以便為其在中期實現約20%的經濟產出奠定基礎。

全德健表示：“如同企業遷移和供應鏈再配置一樣，加入RCEP將是后疫情時代經濟增長的又一催化劑。”

·來源：《財經時報》

·編譯：謝宗鳴

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership （RCEP） could provide the next impetus for growth in ASEAN， which attracted about one third less foreign direct investment （FDI） on the back of the COVID-19 pandemic， says a report by UOB.

FDI in ASEAN fell by 31% to US$ 107 billion in 2020; globally， the drop was worse — 42%， going by data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development （UNCTAD）.

Although UNCTAD has warned that FDI is expected to remain weak this year， UOBs Head of Research Suan Teck Kin believes the RCEP will be another catalyst for ASEANs prospects ahead， given that the region has historically outperformed other regions.

RCEP is a trade deal that includes the 10 members of ASEAN， plus China， Japan， South Korea， Australia and New Zealand. The members account for nearly a third of the worlds population and 29% of global gross domestic product. The trade grouping is bigger than both the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement and the European Union.

The adoption of harmonized rules of origin in the zone will allow ample opportunities for the shifting and diversification of supply chains within the grouping， especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and uncertainty in US-China relations， said Mr Suan.

It is also attractive for countries that are not involved in the free-trade agreement （FTA） to produce and export to RCEP members， he added， especially to the emerging markets in ASEAN and China.

In terms of FDI inflows， RCEP as a grouping has become a main investment destination in recent years due to the size of its economy， as well as a range of countries at varying stages of economic development; the member countries also have different cost structures and resource endowments， he said. FDI inflows into RCEP accounted for 37% of global FDI inflows in 2020， well ahead of other groupings.

RCEP is also highly integrated into the global value chains （GVC）， accounting for 26% of the worlds GVC trade volume， UNCTAD noted.

GVC in RCEP is centred on large and established hubs such as China， Japan， and South Korea， giving room for trade and investment opportunities for peripheral countries such as Vietnam and Cambodia， said Mr Suan. He noted that GVC patterns are closely connected to FDI patterns， with the top five GVC industries in RCEP absorbing more than half the value of greenfield investment project announcements.

“With RCEP the leading destination for global FDI inflows in recent years， this position is likely to be entrenched further once the FTA goes into force. In addition， the regions deep-rooted GVC participation， Chinas dual-circulation strategy and ASEANs rising population and income will also be the main drivers for further investments into the region and ASEAN，” said Mr Suan.

This comes even though performance in the past year was uneven within the region. The Philippines， Vietnam and Indonesia performed relatively better， while Malaysia and Thailand suffered sharper declines in FDI inflows， he noted. The Philippines was the lone exception in the region， with a 29% growth in FDI inflows in 2020 despite the pandemic， and even as the country reported its worst recession on record， he said.

FDI inflows to Vietnam fell more moderately， as the country was able to control the pandemic for the most part， he said. The relocation of supply chains and infrastructure investments also helped to sustain inflows.

Inflows into Indonesia fell by a “relatively mild 24%” to US$ 18 billion. Mr Suan said the outlook for FDI inflows is promising since the country managed to achieve its overall investment targets in 2020.

Malaysia and Thailand logged the worst decline in FDI inflows in ASEAN.

In Malaysias case， it was partly due to political uncertainty and movement restrictions due to the pandemic. “However， with investment approvals in the first nine months of 2020 exceeding RM 100 billion （US$ 33.1 billion）， particularly with strong gains in investment approvals in the manufacturing sector， the actualization of these approvals should pave the way for further inflows in 2021 and beyond，” said Mr Suan.

Thailands performance was attributed to a divestment of a foreign-owned supermarket chain to a Thai investor group during the year， UNCTAD reported. Mr Suan said he was less bullish about Thailand， given that its FDI performance has historically lagged its peers by “a wide margin”. “The outlook for Thailand could be challenging as competition for investment is likely to remain fierce in the years ahead”， he said.

Singapores FDI inflows contracted by 37% to US$ 58 billion， worse than the overall rate for ASEAN， as a result of the pandemic and a slump in business activities globally. This was largely due to an 86% plunge in cross-border mergers and acquisitions， as foreign acquisitions slowed in the region， said UNCTAD.

“Nevertheless， the outlook for Singapores FDI inflows remains positive， as regional economies are expected to see a growth rebound in 2021， which would be favourable to Singapores role as an investment funnel to the region，” said Mr Suan.

He noted that Singapore managed to attract US$ 12.7 billion in fixed-asset investments in 2020， the largest amount since 2008.

In addition， the city-state is planning to grow its manufacturing by 50% over the next target so that the sector continues to contribute about 20% to economic output over the medium term.

“The signing of RCEP will be another catalyst just as companies relocate and reconfigure supply chains in a post-pandemic world，” said Mr Suan.

· Source： Business Times