[ad_1]
Vietnam, a one-party socialist republic, is on track to become one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, alongside Singapore and Indonesia. A supportive business ecosystem and political stability are the reasons investors flock to these countries that are now gaining heavily in terms of investment amid the US-China trade war.
Unfortunately, Malaysia is not gaining as much in this big economic shift from China.
Singapore
Singapore is said to be the least corrupt country in Asia. Its political stability, strong legal framework and robust financial regulatory environment have attracted the interest of Western and Eastern investors over the years. The city-state is rapidly attracting investment from companies seeking new land amid the US-China trade war.
Facebook is planning a specially designed 1 billion dollar data center in Singapore. At eleven stories high, it will be the tallest data center in Southeast Asia when completed. The facility will be upgraded gradually in 30 megawatt increments to its total capacity of 150 MW.
Grab, which started out as My Teksi in Malaysia, changed its name to Grab Taxi after moving to Singapore, leaving Malaysia behind possibly due to regulatory issues over international venture capital fundraising.
Singapore’s advantage is that startups get government subsidies and tax breaks. More importantly, the well-developed ecosystem provides seed funding that helps attract international financiers and provides higher valuations for public offerings. All of this has made Grab what it is today.
Singapore has vigorously fostered innovation and entrepreneurship and succeeded in creating a resilient start-up ecosystem. You now have Garena, Lazada and Razer Inc as billion dollar startups.
The country has become home to many Chinese tech investments. Tencent of China has become the latest Asian tech giant to officially establish itself in Singapore as its new regional hub in the Asia-Pacific region. Tencent, one of China’s largest Internet companies and the region’s largest gaming and esports provider, joins national rivals Alibaba Group and ByteDance, among others, to establish new global hubs in the city-state. .
ByteDance has chosen Singapore as its new strategic location. The Beijing-based start-up is looking to invest several billion dollars and create hundreds of new jobs in Singapore’s economy in the coming years. Like ByteDance, Tencent is generating dozens of jobs in Singapore for businesses including cloud computing, e-sports, and cross-border commerce.
The country has become a leading center for data center management services and operations. The companies have been grouped in Singapore because of its status as one of the most connected cities in the world. Rakuten Mobile, the wireless network subsidiary of Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten, also established its new global headquarters in Singapore earlier this year.
The penetration of mobile internet has made the Southeast Asian region of 650 million people much more digital savvy, and Singapore’s business and educational ecosystem for investors makes it an ideal country for large tech companies. develop your regional interests.
Meanwhile, Alibaba has already completed its acquisition of the Singapore-based regional e-commerce icon Lazada for US $ 4 billion. Alibaba even bought half of the $ 1.2 billion AXA Tower in Singapore’s central business district, the company’s first internationally owned acquisition that aims to become the tech giant’s headquarters outside of China.
Tencent, ByteDance, and Alibaba have joined a group of other Chinese startups that have been setting up business in Singapore over the years, making the city-state a prime choice for Chinese-owned tech companies.
Indonesia
Amazon plans to spend up to $ 951 million in Indonesia. The investment will go towards introducing the company’s cloud computing service to the local market. With a population of more than 250 million people and growing internet and smartphone penetration, Indonesia unquestionably represents a major market for growth in both e-commerce and cloud computing.
Indonesia is attracting billions of dollars in investment. Now it has SpaceX to evaluate the possibility of establishing a rocket launch site in the country. This aerospace manufacturing and space transportation company will be a mutual investment opportunity for Indonesia and Tesla Inc.
Hyundai Motor will invest around US $ 1.55 billion in the Indonesian car manufacturing plant over the next ten years, including product development and operating costs. Hyundai plans to make small sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and multipurpose vehicles (MPVs), as well as electric vehicles (EV) designed for the Southeast Asian market. Production is scheduled to begin in late 2021, with an annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles and a plan to increase it to 250,000 vehicles per year.
Contemporary Amperex Technology, China’s largest car battery pack producer, plans to build a $ 5 billion plant in Indonesia to establish a strategic position in the world’s fourth most populous nation as electric vehicles are gaining popularity. .
The new Google Cloud Platform (GCP) region in Jakarta, its first GCP region in Indonesia and the ninth in Asia-Pacific, has started operations. Indonesia is fast becoming one of the most resourceful and entrepreneurial countries in Southeast Asia, and also one of the fastest growing economies in the world.
Vietnam
Despite being a communist country, global manufacturers can be seen flocking to Vietnam. This is because investors are assured of the political stability of the country. Vietnam’s low costs, investor-friendly policies, zero tolerance for corruption, and state-backed efforts to promote tech startups also make the country attractive to investors. Foreign investors have pledged billions of dollars into Vietnam, and the country’s current per capita income in some areas has nearly five-fold since the last decade.
Apple Inc has teamed up with Samsung to consolidate Vietnam’s growing audio expertise in manufacturing its AirPod headphones as part of the company’s long-term expansion plans. Vietnam is becoming an audio manufacturing hub as companies move away from China to sell to the US market. This growth has also been driven by Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.
Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam are politically stable, resourceful, the government is pro-business, and they offer financial incentives for businesses.
Malaysia
Is Malaysia losing to these countries? Building a workforce with technology savvy, political maturity and stability, racial harmony, rule of law, corruption control and government efficiency will help convince investors to also choose Malaysia as their investment hub.
Moaz Nair is an FMT reader.
The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.
