[SINGAPORE] Six growth markets in South-east Asia made up 8.8 per cent of total capital inflows to developing economies from 2021 to 2024, the Milken Institute has found.

This is up from the 7.6 per cent recorded from 2017 to 2020, it said in its Global Opportunity Index 2026: Growth Markets in Southeast Asia report released on Tuesday (Apr 7).

The institute said that the six markets – Cambodia, Malaysia, Laos, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam – are “well positioned to capitalise on emerging opportunities”.

“These countries benefit from strong economic fundamentals, growing financial sectors, and dynamic innovation economies,” it added.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) accounted for 72.5 per cent of the capital inflows into the six markets from 2021 to 2024, marking a 15.1 percentage point increase from the previous four years.

Portfolio inflows, meanwhile, “declined sharply” to 8.5 per cent, while bank-related and other inflows fell to 19.1 per cent.

Mergers and acquisitions “remained relatively stable” from 2017 to 2024 in terms of deal counts, discounting a “brief period following the onset of Covid-19”. Indonesia and Malaysia accounted for the largest share of such activity, both in terms of volume and value.

The Milken Institute said that despite “global trade frictions, softening domestic demand and shifting patterns of capital flows”, South-east Asia has shown that it can sustain economic growth.

Malaysia, Indonesia take the lead

Malaysia ranked 23rd globally on the institute’s global opportunity index, placing it the highest among the six South-east Asian markets. Acco...