Japanese enterprises eye Vietnam as export base
Japanese manufacturers are eyeing the ASEAN region, especially Vietnam as an export base since the signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in late 2015, according to a recent survey announced by the Asian Nikkei Review on May 12.
The survey was conducted by the Mizuho Research Institute in February 2016, targeting 1,100 Japanese firms capitalised at JPY10 million (US$92,200) or more.
Some 43.8% of respondents to the survey revealed that ASEAN is the region where they plan to pour more investment into, an increase of 2.3% over last year’s survey. This is the fourth year in a row ASEAN has topped the list.
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Japanese manufacturers have shown their increasing interest in Vietnam with 53.5% of them saying they choose Vietnam among the 10 ASEAN member states to invest in, up 4.9% against last year.
Thailand, where auto industry growth is slowing, was picked up by 59.7% of companies, a decline of 2.2% from 2015 while interest in Indonesia felt 4.7% to 41.5%.
When being asked where they plan to expand investments among the 12 TPP signatories, 12.8 of respondents named Vietnam. Japan and the US came second and third with 10.7% and 4.9%, respectively.
Japanese manufacturers continued to pull out of China as its economy slows down. Only 76.4% of them said they have bases in China, which is a 2% drop from last year and the second decline in a row.
