SINGAPORE, Sept 19: While foreign investment into Asia has once again reached pre-crisis levels, the recovery has been unbalanced. Some countries have recovered fully, while others continue to see a slump in foreign investment, leaving many business opportunities untapped.

According to a press release issued here on Thursday, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), a member of the World Bank Group, was created to help in just such situations, encouraging flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) by mitigating perceived political risks that are causing investors to hesitate.

The agency does this by providing political risk insurance to protect investments in developing countries against the risks of transfer restriction, expropriation, breach of contract, and war an civil disturbance.

“The fallout of the global economic slowdown and the events of September 11 are depressing foreign investment in some parts of the region. Even very strong deals in countries with a relatively developed legal and economic infrastructure are having problems closing,” Motomichi Ikawa, MIGA’s executive vice president, said while speaking at launching of the agency’s new Singapore office.

Over the past 12 year, MIGA has offered $1.2 billion in gross coverage for 69 projects in 11 Asian countries. These guarantees have facilitated about $8.5 billion in additional FDI. The region currently accounts for 10 per cent of MIGAs outstanding portfolio. Projects encompass a range of sectors, with the portfolio concentrated on infrastructure projects.

The agency has supported projects in a wide range of countries, such as China, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.

Projects supported by MIGA has a high developmental impact, creating opportunities in host countries through job creation, export and tax generation, technology transfer, spin-off business development, and enhanced domestic competition.