- Japan: Foreign investments in Japan increased by 42.1% to 1,890 bn yen in the first half of the fiscal year 2000-2001, the country's Finance Ministry announced. The United States was responsible for a third of these investments, up by 343% on the same period last year, to 660 bn yen. European investments, on the other hand, fell by 91.2% over the same period last year, at 92.4 bn yen. Most of the investments took the form of shares bought in Japanese companies, up by 51.8% at 1,806 bn yen. The telecommunications and finance sectors benefited most from foreign capital. Japanese investment abroad, on the other hand, fell by 49% at 2,778 bn yen over the same period. Europe was the foremost destination of Japanese capital with 43%, followed by the United States (33.4%) and Asia (10.8%).