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The EU has threatened to suspend Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP) status for Myanmar, under which the country's exports can enter Europe without any tariffs or quotas. The official reason cited by the EU is a growing concern over human rights violations and issues around labour rights in Myanmar. If this threat were to be carried out, the business sector that will be most affected is Myanmar's burgeoning garment sector, which employs around 700,000 people, most of whom are women.

This book explains the dynamics behind Southeast Asia's foreign investment activity, and looks at the region's options for reviving its reputation as an attractive host for foreign investors. Each chapter focuses on a key element; together, they portray southeast Asia's foreign investment profile and prospects. By bringing these key interlocking elements together under a single cover, the book aims to provide a more profound understanding of the challenges southeast Asian countries face in their on-going attempts both to attract new foreign investment inflows and to continue hosting substantial existing foreign-invested assets.

This book explains the dynamics behind Southeast Asia's foreign investment activity, and looks at the region's options for reviving its reputation as an attractive host for foreign investors. Each chapter focuses on a key element; together, they portray southeast Asia's foreign investment profile and prospects. By bringing these key interlocking elements together under a single cover, the book aims to provide a more profound understanding of the challenges southeast Asian countries face in their on-going attempts both to attract new foreign investment inflows and to continue hosting substantial existing foreign-invested assets. Nick J. Freeman is an economic consultant based in Vietnam, and an Associate Senior Fellow of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. He is also Honorary Visiting Fellow at the Bradford University School of Management Frank L. Bartels is a Senior Industrial Development Officer United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Vienna, Austria. 1. Introduction to Foreign Direct Investment in Southeast Asia 2. The Challenges of the New Economy for Multinational Firms: Lessons for Southeast Asia 3. The Political Economy of Foreign Direct Investment in Southeast Asia: Economic Security Perspectives 4. An Examination of the Impact of AFTA on Southeast Asian Foreign Direct Investment 5. The Future of Intra-Regional Foreign Direct Investment Patterns in Southeast Asia 6. Foreign Direct Investment and the Rise of Cross-Border Production Networks in Southeast Asia 7. The Impact of China's WTO Accession on Southeast Asian Foreign Direct Investment: Trends and Prospects 8. The Future of Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisition Activity in Southeast Asia 9. The Prospects for Foreign Direct Investment in the Transitional Economies of Southeast Asia 10. The Future of Foreign Portfolio Investment in Southeast Asia 11. ASEAN Investment Cooperation: Retrospect, Developments and Prospects 12. Foreign Investment and Southeast Asian Economic Development: Issues and Challenges

The EU has threatened to suspend Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP) status for Myanmar, under which the country's exports can enter Europe without any tariffs or quotas. The official reason cited by the EU is a growing concern over human rights violations and issues around labour rights in Myanmar.If this threat were to be carried out, the business sector that will be most affected is Myanmar's burgeoning garment sector, which employs around 700,000 people, most of whom are women.

The speed and extent of economic and political developments in Myanmar since March 2011 have surprised many observers of the country. This in turn has generated a great deal of excitement about Myanmar's immediate future, and the expectations of many stakeholders have become lofty as a result. But delivering on all those expectations is not going to be an easy task, notably within the context of the fast-approaching 2015 elections' time horizon, but also beyond that date. Thus, Myanmar's future long-term economic growth prospects are potentially good, but are certainly not \"a given\", and thus expectations have to be tempered with some degree of healthy realism about the numerous challenges that lie ahead. But for the business community to play such a role, it needs a conducive enabling environment and a relatively stable macro-economic platform on which to operate. What at first is seen as a boon can soon become a burden.

The year 2022 proved to be a challenging one for the Lao PDR, with stability of the economy taking centre-stage once again. As the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic began to abate in the early part of the year, they were promptly replaced by a number of macro-economic concerns that brought some degree of anxiety to both the public and private sectors. By mid-2022, it had become clear that this was not going to be the year of the post-pandemic economic bounce that some had hoped for. In September, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) adjusted down its 2022 GDP growth forecast for Laos from 3.8 per cent to 2.5 per cent, up just 0.2 per cent on the previous year's figure, when the impact of the pandemic was very much apparent and borders remained closed. Meanwhile, the ADB's 2023 forecast for Laos is a modest growth of 3.5 per cent.

Regional Outlook is an annual publication of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

This book explains the dynamics behind southeast Asia's foreign investment activity, and looks at the region's options for reviving its reputation as an attractive host for foreign investors. Each chapter focuses on a key element; together, they portray southeast Asia's foreign investment profile and prospects. By bringing these key interlocking elements together under a single cover, the book aims to provide a more profound understanding of the challenges southeast Asian countries face in their on-going attempts both to attract new foreign investment inflows and to continue hosting substantial existing foreign-invested assets.