Japanese enterprises eye Vietnam as export base

Tokyo (VNA) – 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 10 million JPY (92,200 USD) or more.

Some 43.8 percent of respondents to the survey revealed that ASEAN is the region where they plan to pour more investment into, an increase of 2.3 percent over last year’s survey. This is the fourth year in a row ASEAN has topped the list.

Japanese manufacturers have shown their increasing interest in Vietnam with 53.5 percent of them saying they choose Vietnam among the 10 ASEAN member states to invest in, up 4.9 percent against last year.

Thailand, where auto industry growth is slowing, was picked up by 59.7 percent of companies, a decline of 2.2 percent from 2015 while interest in Indonesia felt 4.7 percent to 41.5 percent.

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 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively.

Japanese manufacturers continued to pull out of China as its economy slows down. Only 76.4 percent of them said they have bases in China, which is a 2-percent drop from last year and the second decline in a row.-VNA