Supply Chain Management “Confidence” Still Bullish in Asia Pacific, Says New Report

Regional highlights contained in the recently-released 2019 A.T. Kearney Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index contains some rather granular market intelligence for today's global supply chain managers.

Here's how it breaks down:

Americas: Results are mixed for the Americas region. The United States and Canada both rank among the top five markets on the Index for the seventh consecutive year, but Mexico falls significantly in this year's Index rankings (even as its score improves). And although 34 percent of investors are more optimistic about the regional economic outlook this year, this reflects less bullish investor sentiment on the Americas economic outlook than in last year's Index.

Europe: With 14 markets, Europe is once again the region with the highest number of countries appearing on the FDI Confidence Index. Continued investor focus on European markets likely reflects in part the ongoing uncertainty surrounding Brexit, as companies seek to maintain their preferential access to the EU market. But investors are less optimistic about the prospects for several major economies, including the United Kingdom, Italy, France, and Spain.

Asia Pacific: Asia-Pacific markets do well on the 2019 Index. Their share of spots on the Index increases from seven last year to eight this year. And half of the Asia-Pacific markets on the Index rank in the top 10: Japan, China, Australia, and Singapore. Investors are also most optimistic about the regional economic outlook for the Asia Pacific. They are particularly optimistic about the economies of region's developed markets, including Japan, New Zealand, and Singapore.

Finally, it's important to note that since the FDI Confidence Index's inception in 1998, the countries ranked on the Index have tracked closely with the top destinations for actual FDI flows in subsequent years.

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