ASEAN Economic Community (AEC)
Southeast Asian Update 2018 & Outlook 2019
Since 2000, the ASEAN economies have collectively grown faster than any other Asian economy except China. GDP has quadrupled, per capita income tripled, and foreign direct investment (FDI) into ASEAN countries quintupled.
Asian Robotics Review will be in our Bangkok office February 12-March 6, 2019.
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ASEAN Update 2018 & Outlook 2019
Korea’s good buddy is Vietnam; Japan is reaffirming itself in Thailand and with the Mekong5; East Asia and Singapore are designing a future for Myanmar; Indonesia is a 250-million-person enigma…still; Malaysia, with its new leadership, is readying for its next big step up in automation; the Philippines is waffling with indecision…still; and China is building the land, sea and air trading infrastructure that will bind it all together.
According to Bloomberg Business:
“The 10-economy bloc of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, is a natural magnet for new factories thanks to low production costs and well-trodden manufacturing plants, solid growth with the five biggest economies expanding at about 5.3 percent on average, and improving ease-of-doing-business rankings — not to mention geographical proximity to China.”
Nicholas Kwan, research director at Hong Kong’s Trade Development Council on Southeast Asia’s clout: Kwan called Southeast Asia “an economic powerhouse” and pointed Hong Kong businesses to the bursting region as a safe haven amid trade-war tensions.”
For example, Samsung’s investment of $2.5 billion in its Vietnamese factories elevated the country’s per capita GDP by 1.2 percent; or bond buying by Japan’s central bank has left the country flush with cash to spend, which is finding its way to Thailand.
“If ASEAN were a single country, it would already be the seventh-largest economy in the world, with a combined GDP of $2.4 trillion. It is projected to rank as the fourth-largest economy by 2050.”
Tech Trends: ASEAN Reshaping Asia
Next Up: Free Trade Agreement 2019
Myanmar Awakening: New Automation Frontier
Forecast to nearly triple GDP by 2030: $69B to $200B
Malaysia’s Robot City Gets Cranking
Seeking its own piece of Industry 4.0, Malaysia looks toward digitally-driven manufacturing for an edge in productivity…and a better future
Thailand’s $45 Billion Leap to Industry 4.0
Newly approved plan favors 10 key industries, with robotics and logistics carving out a $6 billion share
$321B in ASEAN Infrastructure Funding to Drive Automation
May well be the jewel in the crown of Asia’s future
Robots, Automation, and the Kra Canal Project
Often proposed, never attempted, the $28B project has now taken on special meaning
Japan Gets Cozy with Thailand
Can Thailand become kingmaker of robot-driven automation along the Mekong River and beyond?
Korea Adds Robotics to Smart Vietnam Strategy
Korea makes smart, decisively bold moves into the ASEAN, especially with Vietnam
Singapore: Seeking a Bridge Between
Can robotics become a key contributor in shift from simply “adding value” to “creating value”?
Lucky Moon Over Myanmar
Why fail when everyone wants you to win? Myanmar could well become one of automation’s finer creations