| In the past couple of years, Japanese manufacturers and other domestic companies have been shifting their capital investments and operations from China to member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), with the aim of developing new markets. Indeed, a new wave of Japanese investment is taking place in areas such as financial, retail, health, education and residential services. Actually, Japanese investment in Southeast Asia jumped 55% in the first six months of 2013 from the year before, to US$10.29 billion. A recent survey by the state-owned Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) found that 84% of responding companies planned to strengthen overseas operations within the next three years, compared with only 65.8% in 2009. |
