Japanese companies are planning to increase their investment in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries in order to make use of their abundant materials, low labour costs, investment encouragement policies and abilities to adapt to new technologies.
According to Professor of Economics Shigeki Higashi at the Seinan Gakuin University in Japan , the Land of the Rising Sun considers ASEAN members to be its important partners.
The free trade agreements (FTAs) among ASEAN member countries and between ASEAN and Japan are driving forces pushing the countries’ economic growth, the professor said.
Higasi reckoned that the FTA between ASEAN and the group of China , Japan and the Republic of Korea (ASEAN+3) and the FTA between ASEAN+3 and India , Australia and New Zealand (ASEAN+6) would raise ASEAN’s position in the international arena.
Japanese investors are eagerly seeking business opportunities in ASEAN countries in anticipation of the birth of the ASEAN Economic Community, expected in 2015, the professor said./.