Lag in Service Industry
Japan is expanding its investment in the fast-growing service sectors of the ASEAN countries, in an attempt to outdo Korea.
According to the Institute for International Trade of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), the ASEAN region is emerging as a major consumption market based on its eighth-largest economic scale in the world.
“The number of middle-class households with purchasing power is estimated to reach 93 million by 2018 in this region, and its total population is expected to exceed 600 million in 2025,” it explained, adding, “In particular, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines are continuing with rapid economic growth, and their service industries’ growth rates have remained at over 10 percent all the way since 2000.”
Under the circumstances, Japan has boosted its investment in the sectors from US$1.277 billion to US$10.836 billion between 2010 and last year. Meanwhile, that of Korea has declined from US$524 million to US$399 million during the same period.
As of the end of April this year, only 811 Korean service companies were doing business in the region, whereas the number amounted to 1,926 for Japan. Besides, most of the Korean companies were found in certain countries such as Vietnam and Indonesia.