The survey showed that Southeast Asia has eclipsed China as the region most likely to produce the best investment returns, as the ongoing US-China trade war puts a chill on the world’s second-largest economy.  

Raymond Chao, Chairman for Asia-Pacific and Greater China at the PwC, said they surveyed CEOs across the region where they wanted to put their money in the next 12 months. For two years in a row, Vietnam has come out on top. 

About 39 percent of respondents viewed Southeast Asia as having the best investment returns, while 35 percent voted for China, a drop from 55 percent in a similar poll last year, and 16 percent for the US. A recent report indicated that foreign direct investment flows into ASEAN rose to a record 137 billion USD in 2017. Vietnam, Indonesia and Singapore accounted for some 72 percent of the foreign direct investment inflows into ASEAN.