Vietnam’s already strong economic outlook received another boost last week after Japanese investment bank Nomura named it the biggest winner from the United States (US) – China trade war, with its economy surging by 7.9 percent as a result of one year’s worth of trade diversions leading up to the first quarter of this year.The standoff has seen gross domestic product (GDP) gains in several other countries, though none of them are anywhere as close to Vietnam’s. Taiwan are the next bi

From socks and sneakers to washing machines and watches, Asian countries are hoping the United States (US)-China trade war will permanently boost manufacturing as brands dodge the row by choosing cheaper locations to make their goods.Business has fanned out from China, often referred to as the 'Factory of the World', into Vietnam, Cambodia, India and Indonesia for years.But the shift has accelerated as the world's two biggest economies slap tit-for-tat tariffs on each other.&am

While many large companies in ASEAN are piloting Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) initiatives in manufacturing, few small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have managed to integrate them in their processes successfully. Industry 4.0 manufacturing can be defined as the integration of internet-enabled technologies which allow networking in the production process.

Sandvik Coromant’s “digital thread” which spans throughout its factory in Gimo, Sweden, has seen it win international recognition from the World Economic Forum (WEF). Part of Swedish global industrial engineering group Sandvik, Sandvik Coromant is at the forefront of manufacturing tools and machining solutions that drive industry standards and innovations in the metalworking industry.The raised labour productivity in the company’s Gimo plant as a result of extensive automation saw th

Alarm bells are ringing across the globe as the United States (US)-China trade war continues to brew, and while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that a full-blown trade war would weaken the global economy, it may not be all bad news for ASEAN.China is ASEAN’s single largest trading partner, but the US is an important economic and strategic partner as well and its growth and spending power has been critical to driving worldwide trade. With increasing tariffs, goods pro

Labour rights violations in ASEAN are among the negative effects of an increase in production due to the ongoing United States (US)-China trade war which has resulted in a shift of some production from China to this part of the world. While the region is embarking on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, numerous industries in ASEAN still rely on labour-intensive factories.

Southeast Asia is a region that’s vast developing. It has evolved from an agricultural society to one of the fastest growing regions in the world within the span of a century. One of the main drivers of such growth was due to Southeast Asia’s position as a low-manufacturing hub. This combined with cheap exports, provided the region with the necessary income to develop. However, in the past two decades, the world has seen the meteoric rise of China’s manufacturing industry.