The slump in foreign direct investment (FDI) from developed countries to South Asia, East Asia and South-East Asia is a

blessing in disguise as it has incited a spike in intra-regional investment.

"The intra-regional FDI now accounted for as much as half of the region's inward FDI stock," said the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) in its World Investment Report 2010 released in Geneva on Thursday.