Trade within ASEAN increased faster than trade between ASEAN and non-member states during the 1993-2013 period.

Anannual growth rate of 10.5 percent was recorded for trade within ASEANduring the 1993-2013 period, compared to 8.9 percent for trade betweenASEAN and non-member states, according to Malaysia’s Bernama NewsAgency.

Bernama quoted the ASEAN Secretariat’s statisticsreleased in October 2014 as saying that the proportion of intra-ASEANtrade increased from 19.2 percent in 1993 to 22 percent in 2000 and 24.2percent in 2013, accounting for 25 percent of the region's total GDP in2013.

Data on foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in ASEANshowed that between 2000 and 2013, FDI within the bloc grew at anaverage annual rate of 25 percent, with FDI from non-ASEAN statesposting an average annual growth of 13 percent.

Total FDI in ASEAN reached 122 billion USD in 2013, with non-ASEAN states providing 101 billion USD.

In 2013, the majority of FDI comprised 22 percent provided by the EU,18.7 percent by Japan, 17.4 percent by ASEAN member states, 7.1 percentby China and 3.7 percent by Hong Kong (China).

The services sector benefitted from FDI the most at almost 70 percent, closely followed by manufacturing.-VNA