54ptu
FULL MEMBER
New Recruit
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2015
- Messages
- 69
- Reaction score
- 0
- Country
- Location
From 8th October to 13th November 2015, the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) conducted its latest survey on the business conditions of Japanese companies in 20 countries and regions in Asia and Oceania: Northeast Asia (mainland China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Macau), ASEAN (Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos), Southwest Asia (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) and Oceania (Australia and New Zealand). The survey received valid replies from 4,635 companies (a 48.3% response rate). Summary points:
Hope to see more Japanese companies follow the lead of CPEC and pour their money into Pakistan!
- Companies with intention to expand business in China drop below 40%
Among respondents, 51.2% expect to expand business in the next one or two years, a 5.1-point decrease from the 56.3% marked in the 2014 survey. Looking at the results by country and region, companies in China answering with “expansion” was 38.1% (down 8.4 points). The rate dropped below 40% for the first time since the survey began in 1998. Meanwhile, those indicating that business will remain at the same level came to a slim majority with 51.3%. In ASEAN, the response rate for “expansion” declined to 54.2% (down 6.1 points) as a whole. By country, Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand saw a double-digit decline to 51.9% (down 15.4 points), 66.7% (down 12.8 points) and 49% (down 11.9 points), respectively. In contrast, strong intentions of expanding business were seen in Pakistan (76.7%), Myanmar (75.8%), India (74.7%), Sri Lanka (73%) and elsewhere. - Biggest managerial issue: Increased wages
Among managerial issues, increased wages was the most commonly cited at 69%. In China and Indonesia in particular, the figures exceeded 80%. Regarding the average year-on-year rate of increase in wages for 2015, a double-digit growth was recorded in the following seven countries: Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Laos, Pakistan, India and Vietnam. Among these countries, Myanmar, Indonesia and Pakistan are expected to continue to mark a double-digit increase for 2016. Although the rate of China was increasing by double digits since the survey began in 2010, the growth has been slowing down by a single digit since 2013 and is predicted to decline to 6.7% in 2016. - Procurement rate from China increases in ASEAN
When asked about how they planned to reduce material costs, which generally account for 60% of production costs, 74.1% of companies answered with “cost-cutting by increasing local procurement rate.” China’s local procurement rate is the highest in the targeted countries and regions at 64.7%, compared to its level of 58.3% in 2010. Meanwhile, ASEAN 5 (Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia) saw a decrease in local procurement rates compared to that of 2010, with the exception of Vietnam. In those five countries, procurement rate from China has been increasing. - As inflation countermeasures, “automation and power-saving” initiatives encouraged at over 40% companies in industries of “transportation machinery and tools” and “electrical machinery, equipment and supplies”
As countermeasures toward increasing costs, “cost-cutting (e.g., administration cost and indirect cost)” (54.2%), “reconsidering suppliers of raw materials and procurement content” (41.1%) and “raising prices of products and services” (27.4%) were selected. Encouraging “automation and power-saving (e.g., introducing industrial robots)” marked approximately 30% in Malaysia and China and exceeded 40% in the sectors of transportation machinery and electrical machinery, equipment and supplies. - Percentage of companies expecting surplus remains at same level, while varying by country and region
Companies expecting operating profits for 2015 to be a surplus accounted for 62.2%, which was almost at the same level as the 2014 survey (63.9%). Looking at the results by country and region, the rates for Korea (77.2%) and Taiwan (74.7%) marked the highest, closely followed by Pakistan, Australia, the Philippines and Thailand with over 70%. Meanwhile, the rate was below 40% in countries including Myanmar (17.7%), Bangladesh (35.4%) and Cambodia (35.8%), where many companies have shorter operation histories than in other countries. In terms of business scale, 68.1% of large-scale companies expected a surplus, which exceeds the rate of SMEs (51.6%) by 16.5 points. A gap of 20 or more points was seen in Vietnam and China, while the rate of SMEs surpassed that of large-scale companies in Korea. - Business confidence to improve in 2016
Regarding the business forecast for 2016, 44.8% of companies expect operating profits to increase, while those predicting a downturn decreased from the outlook for 2015, down to 13.3%. The diffusion index (DI) – the proportion of businesses reporting increased operating profits minus those reporting decreased operating profits compared to the previous year – marked 31.5 points, a 19-point increase. Among reasons for improvement, “sales increase in local markets” ranked first. In emerging countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia and India, the DI exceeded 60 points, representing a significant improvement of business confidence. - “Facilitation of trade and customs authorities” and “access to the goods market” are the expected issues for TPP.
Among expectations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement cited by companies operating in the member countries of Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand, “facilitation of trade and customs authorities” marked the highest at 59%, followed by “access to the goods market.” Meanwhile, regarding the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) projected to launch at the end of 2015 and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) under negotiation, almost all categories showed a decline in expectations , compared to the 2014 survey.
Hope to see more Japanese companies follow the lead of CPEC and pour their money into Pakistan!