Workers of Japan's Foster Electronics Limited Company in Bac Ninh (Source: VNA) Tokyo (VNA) – More and more Japanese firms are expanding business inSoutheast Asia and scaling down operations in China due to its escalatingtensions with the US, according to the Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
The organization’s new trade and investment report quotedits survey conducted late last year as saying that 41 percent of Japanesecompanies are considering expanding operations in Vietnam in the next threeyears or so, up 5.5 percentage points from a year earlier, and 36.3 percent ofrespondents had given a similar answer for Thailand, up 1.5 percentage points.
Meanwhile, 48.1 percent said they would boost business inChina, down 7.3 percentage points.
According to the report, since 2018, an intensifiedconfrontation between the US and China has pushed up Japanese companies'investment in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The gap between the amount of Japanese investment into ASEANand China increased to 20.4 billion JPY (191 million USD) in 2019 from 10.2billion JPY in 2017.
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly reduced Japaneseinvestment in the Asian market, as well.
In the first five months of 2020, Japanese investment in ASEANdropped by 35.5 percent./.
VNA
