JAPAN

Overseas Investment Tapering Off: Japan’s appetite for direct investment abroad faded for the third year as companies continued to tighten their belts, the government reported. The Finance Ministry said direct foreign investment fell 17.9% to $34.14 billion in the fiscal year that ended in March. A ministry official explained the slowdown as a result of slowing economic growth, but some say Japanese companies, with an increasingly strong yen and hostile trading partners, may face renewed pressure to invest still less in overseas businesses.