With Japan’s economic growth anemic and the nation’s population aging and declining, companies have been searching for growth opportunities elsewhere in Asia.
“Asean markets are attractive from the Japanese perspective,â€â€™ said Ma Tieying, an economist at DBS Group Holdings in Singapore. “Many economies have great potential to grow, thanks to relatively low per-capita incomes and a young population profile.â€
The openness of markets in the region along with labor costs that are lower than in China also is attracting Japanese investment, he said.
Of manufacturers responding to a 2015 survey on investment intentions, about 48 percent said they intended to strengthen or expand businesses in China, versus 73 percent in 2011.
The poll by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation found that about 56 percent of the companies want to expand investment in the five key nations of Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. The other five members of Asean are Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
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