A survey recently carried out by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) indicates that 41% of Japanese companies are considering expanding their operations in Vietnam over the next three years, a 5.5% rise from a year earlier.

A Japanese invested company manufactures air conditioners in Vietnam
(Photo: Daikin) 

The survey, which was originally conducted in November and December, 2019, reached out to 9,975 Japanese firms that are strongly interested in business and investment overseas, of which 3,562, equivalent to 35.7%, responded.

Kyodo News quotes the JETRO report, which was first released on July 30, as saying that an increasing number of enterprises from the Far East nation are making moves to expand their business operations in Southeast Asia. Indeed, many are scaling back their participation in markets such as China due to escalating tensions between Beijing and Washington.

"Since 2018, an intensified confrontation between the United States and China has ramped up investment by Japanese companies in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations," the report states.

Furthermore, the survey indicates that 36.3% of respondents provided a similar answer when questioned about expansion in Thailand, a rise of 1.5%, while 48.1% said they would look to boost their business operations in China, a decline of 7.3%.

“The gap between the amount of Japanese investment in ASEAN and China expanded to JPY20.4 billion, equivalent to US$191 million, in 2019 from JPY10.2 billion in 2017”, the report notes.

According to JETRO, a maker of steel and nonferrous metal in the Shikoku region in western Japan said it is planning to shift exports bound for Mexico from China to the country.