- South East Asia: foreign investments in the countries of Southeast Asia have fallen sharply over the past two years, says a report published by Mr. Rodolfo Severino, Secretary General of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean), despite a general upturn in the economy. According to the statistics, foreign investments fell from $21.5 bn in 1997 to $16.8 bn in 1998. This then further plummeted to $13.1 bn in 1999. Of the ten member nations of Asean, only Singapore saw a...