Malaysia and Philippines the top choices

INGAPORE: A growing number of US companies plan to shift some
operations from China to Southeast Asia in the next two years as
confidence in countries such as the Philippines improves, a survey by
the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore showed.

AmCham
Singapore said yesterday its survey of 356 senior executives working
for US companies in the region showed that 21 percent planned to reduce
reliance on China by moving some businesses to Southeast Asia over the
next two years, up from 15 per cent in a 2011 survey.

Malaysia
and the Philippines were the top choices for expansion, with both
getting cited by 27 per cent of respondents, with plans to reduce their
reliance on China. In a survey last year, 21 per cent of those
expecting to move some operations favoured Malaysia, and 11 per cent
cited the Philippines.

In the new survey, the next most
favoured destinations were Vietnam and Thailand, with 24 per cent each.
The proportion citing Vietnam was down from 34 per cent in the 2011
survey, when it was the top choice.




Indonesia was cited by 23 per cent, compared with 11 per cent last year.

AmCham did not give reasons why US firms had become more interested in
diversifying away from China, although rising costs likely were a
factor. Reuters