Emerging multinational enterprises from East and Southeast Asia in V4 countries and Slovenia

This study is prepared in the framework of a research project on outward foreign direct investments of non-European emerging market multinationals in the CEE region with special focus on V4 countries and Slovenia. It investigates outward FDI from South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. In this preliminary stage of the research we first analyze the general trends of global outward FDI of these six Asian countries from the perspective of geographical/sectoral distribution, investors’ size, motivations (push factors) and supporting government policy etc. Then we try to measure the weight and importance of outward FDI of the six Asian countries in the EU and especially in the CEE region. We found that these Asian countries account for only a low share (0.5%) of the total inward FDI stock of the EU. Out of the six countries, South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia are the biggest investors in the whole EU and in V4 countries as well. South Korean and Taiwanese investments in the manufacturing sector, which benefit from the lower labour costs, represent the dominant features of the total outward FDI of the six Asian countries in the V4 countries. To determine the characteristics of Thai, Vietnamese and Indonesian investments in V4 countries, we need to conduct more empirical research.