Japan firms invest more in Southeast Asia
Print Edition
JAPANESE companies’ investments in Southeast Asia surged last year to almost three times the amount invested in China, after ties between Beijing and Tokyo soured in 2012 and Chinese labor costs rose, a Japanese government agency said yesterday.
Japanese companies invested 2.33 trillion yen (US$22.8 billion) in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam last year, compared with 887 billion yen in China, Japan’s largest trading partner, the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) said.
Investments doubled in Southeast Asia and fell 18 percent in China over 2012 and China’s waning attraction is likely to continue as the ratio of companies planning expansion there fell to a record low of below 55 percent, JETRO said, citing a survey of Japanese companies.
“Viewed from the Japanese companies’ headquarters, China’s economy and China’s political situation present a considerable amount of risk,” JETRO Chairman Hiroyuki Ishige said.
Sino-Japanese ties have been strained by a territorial row over the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s attempt to rewrite Japan’s wartime history and tone down past apologies.
The fall in Chinese investment came after the territorial dispute escalated when the Japanese government “bought” the uninhabited islands from so-called private owners.
Rising wages in China are also having an impact on companies trying to keep costs down and maximize profits.
China’s average salaries now beat those of Thailand, according to a JETRO survey carried out between October and November last year. The Philippines and Indonesian labor costs are about one third below China’s.
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