ISLAMABAD: Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) region (excluding the PRC) attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow of $13.3 billion in 2023, and as a share of gross domestic product, Mongolia stood out with FDI of 11 percent, far exceeding countries such as Pakistan (0.5 percent), says Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The bank in its report, “deepening trade and transport facilitation policy analysis of border crossing points expanding the CAREC corridor performance measurement and monitoring framework”, stated that CAREC region (excluding the PRC) attracted FDI inflow of $13.3 billion in 2023, accounting for just one percent of global FDI, significantly lower than sub-regions such as Southeast Asia (17 percent) and South Asia (three percent).
Kazakhstan received nearly one-fourth of this inflow, reflecting its openness to foreign investment and international integration. However, as a share of gross domestic product, Mongolia stood out with FDI of 11 percent, far exceeding countries such as Pakistan (0.5 percent) and Kazakhstan and Tajikistan (1.2 percent each).
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The report stated that to bridge economic disparities through regional cooperation, CAREC has mobilised over $51 billion in investments across 276 regional projects since 2001, with a strong focus on developing multimodal transportation networks, enhancing trade, enabling free movement of people and goods, and laying the groundwork for the development of economic corridors.
Of these investments, transport has the biggest share, with about 67.4 percent or about $34.3 billion; while trade facilitation and trade policy accounts for 2.7 percent or about $1.4 billion.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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