Real GDP growth rates across Southeast Asia are expected to remain robust for the foreseeable future, with an average growth rate of 6.2 over the next five years. Southeast Asia is seen as today’s most dynamic economic region with opportunities across key industrial sectors.

Through its regional headquarters in Singapore, Toshiba Mitsubishi-Electric Industrial Systems Corporation in Asia (TMEIC Asia Pte. Ltd.), has expanded and is further increasing its network across other regions of Southeast Asia. Leveraging its expertise in the design, development and engineering of advanced automation systems, variable speed drives and large rotating machinery, TMEIC is continuously securing new businesses across the region.

“The recent opening of our office in Thailand has allowed us to grow our business, particularly in the oil and gas and power related industries,” says Stefano Poli, outgoing President and Managing Director of TMEIC Asia. “We are also working with customers in the sugar mills and water treatment industries.”

The company’s expansion into Indonesia is also beginning to bear fruit.

“In September of last year we secured a significant contract with a pulp and paper company”, says Poli. “We are simultaneously developing our activities in key industries in Indonesia and our business is growing”.

Renewable energy is an important growth sector in Southeast Asia. As the world’s leading industrial system integrator with three decades of manufacturing, research and development experience in renewable energy, TMEIC’s solar power solutions are in demand. The company’s Solar Ware® Samurai 1500VDC photovoltaic (PV) inverter offers customers the highest level of power conversion efficiency, maximizing output power capacity and significantly reducing operating costs.

“In relation to this product, we have received Frost & Sullivan’s ‘Company of the Year’ award for three consecutive years for ‘revolutionizing PV utility-scale solar inverter solutions in terms of market reliability, efficiency and productivity’,” says Poli.

The TM21-G Series motor, another product being marketed across the region, requires minimal maintenance, offers exceptional reliability and is compliant with global standards.

“Thailand and Indonesia are important markets for our company and sales of our products,” explains Hiroki Nagasaka, the newly appointed President and Managing Director of TMEIC Asia. “The TM21-G Series motors are designed for small to medium sized facilities and are cost-efficient”.

With a center of excellence established in Thailand and a growing business in Indonesia, Nagasaka is exploring opportunities across the rest of the region.

“From our operations in Thailand, we are looking in particular at the mining sector in Laos and the power sector in Myanmar”, says Nagasaka. “Our next target market will be the Philippines as the current administration is very pro-business and we see the number of investment projects increasing, including material handling, renewable energy and mining. We are establishing strong relationships in the Philippines and intend to open a branch office in the Philippines later this year to serve a range of industrial sectors.”

As the company continues to strengthen its position across the region, its localization strategy is guided by TMEIC’s President, Masahiko Yamawaki’s vision of ‘Acting Agile by Taking a Customer First Approach’ – an initiative echoed by Nagasaka as he expands his company’s capabilities in the region.

“TMEIC values Southeast Asia as a market and the countries which make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is becoming an increasingly important market in Asia,” concludes Nagasaka. “The region has the most important coefficient of growth and we intend to remain customer-oriented by being responsive to market and client demands.”

“We recognize Southeast Asia is a fast-growing market and our presence in Singapore allows us to coordinate our businesses across our current regional markets: Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. As we look towards future growth markets, such as the Philippines and Vietnam, we will work closely with our customers to create synergies which lead to success stories across the region”.

“I am proud that the factory we opened in Sri Lanka continues to operate today”, says Inoue. “Our business in Southeast Asia began in Thailand in the 1960s and the success we have seen across the region continues to be based on the strong partnerships and joint ventures we have established”.

The company’s overseas business represents two thirds of its total revenue with the Southeast Asian region generating thirty percent of this business.

Products manufactured by the company can be found in a range of applications from automotive parts to insulation for housing and building materials.

“Automotive is one of the largest sectors we serve but today, bedding and furniture make up significant portions of our business”, says Inoue. “We also supply various products such as polyurethane system for the shoe manufacturing industry, insulation materials for cold-storage and consumer products across Southeast Asia while serving many other industries”.

INOAC Corporation maintains a strong philosophy towards localization.

“We have developed strong technical know-how with many of our products and we work closely with local partners to assist them as they grow their business,” says Inoue. “We will further develop and assist in localization across Southeast Asia as we are building in their ‘backyard’.”

Today Iriso has operations in twelve countries with four manufacturing sites and two research and development facilities.

“Singapore remains our key center for sales to ASEAN member countries and we continue to provide high-quality connectors that play important functions within electronic devices”, says Sato. “We will support innovative technologies including car electrification and Advanced Driver Assistance System for safer driving in addition to playing our part in the dynamic ‘Internet of Things’ evolution”.

In Southeast Asia, the luxury cosmetics brand has two branches in Singapore and two in Malaysia.

“Our main priority was to concentrate on the Japanese market and to be the leading company in all major department stores before reaching out to Southeast Asia,” says Kobayashi.

Currently, Albion holds the number one position in six out of the eight major department stores in Japan and is ranked second in the remaining two stores.

“Since accomplishing our goal of becoming a leader in Japan, we are now focusing on key markets in Southeast Asia,” says Kobayashi.

The company’s approach to product placement lies in its commitment to showcasing products in luxury and high-end department stores and shops in Japan. This is the same approach Kobayashi is driving across Asia.

“In order to engage with new customers, we plan to significantly expand our network across Asia and ensure our products are available in high-end stores across the region”, says Kobayashi.

The company’s own lifestyle branded stores, ‘Albion Dresser’ showcase the company’s products alongside fashionable accessories.

“Our goal is to open between 100-150 such stores in Japan and we plan to open our first ‘Albion Dresser’ store in Southeast Asia in the next couple of years,” Kobayashi explains.

As a leading brand, Albion only uses superior ingredients in its products.

“I travel the world seeking original ingredients and quality raw materials to use in Albion products”, Kobayashi states proudly. “In Sri Lanka, we established the ‘Institute of Traditional Plants’ in collaboration with Tokyo University of Agriculture, at which I am a visiting professor, to contribute to the development of the country and the industry there”.

In Japan, the company cultivates forty five types of plants at a 27,000 square meter company owned farm. Albion also sources ingredients from seven locations across Japan, including Sea Salt from the sea of Okhotsk in the western Pacific Ocean.

“Albion products are highly-valued by the medical and academic communities, however with the shrinking Japanese population, it is important for us as a company to reach out to Southeast Asian markets”, concludes Kobayashi. “We have been successful in Japan, and as Japanese women have similar tastes to women from Southeast Asia; these new markets will be our focus in the future. We look forward to bringing our prestigious products to discerning women across the region.”

In Malaysia and the Philippines, Takatori Corporation’s business lines focus on semiconductors and parts installed in automobile, smartphones, tablet devices, medical equipment, LED products, and various cutting-edge products. Member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) remain important markets for the company’s advanced technologies.

“Southeast Asia is vital to the growth of our business”, says Masuda. “In the textiles and semiconductor industries, our high-precision machines deliver hugely competitive production rates. We contribute to our customers’ production targets by stabilizing their operations and delivering quality after-sales service”.

Takatori Corporation’s machines utilize the latest information on a comprehensive range of materials. By offering customers high-flexibility equipment and reduced modification costs, the company is gaining ground in Southeast Asian markets.

“As a company, we support Southeast Asian companies by providing world-class machines and technologies”, Masuda concludes. “We look forward to continually introducing modern production systems and working in partnership with our friends across the region”.

In December of last year, the company established in a ‘Global Logistics Innovation Centre’ in Singapore to deliver logistics solutions to non-Japanese companies.

“The center aims to develop market-research and strengthen our business ties with multinational firms which are establishing regional headquarters in Singapore,” explains Takezoe. “While we have a strong reputation amongst Japanese companies, we want to strengthen our business with non-Japanese partners.”

Nippon Express has twenty seven group companies in 14 Countries in Southeast Asia including its Singapore based regional headquarters for South Asia and Oceania. “We will aggressively expand our service network in this region,” says Yasunori Takahashi, South Asia & Oceania Region Managing Director.

“Singapore is important both as a shipping and logistics hub and as a market-driver due to the significant number of multinationals with regional headquarters in the City-State,” says Yuichi Nakagawa, Group General Manager of Nippon Express’ Global Business Planning Group. “While Thailand remains our largest market in the region, we also see growth opportunities in Indonesia and the Philippines”.

Within the region, Nippon Express provides clients with the ‘SS7000’ cross-border trucking service – a 7000-kilometer transportation link between Shanghai and Singapore linking Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam through a hub in Bangkok.

“As we focus on ‘consolidated trucking service’, we recently improved the service between Hanoi to Bangkok and Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur in March 2017. Now we are serving our clients with simplified pricing and tracing on the web on the fixed day schedule,” says Takahashi.

“We intend to become the leading logistics company in the region by offering total-logistics solutions to our Southeast Asian customers,” Nakagawa adds.

Nippon Express is striving to provide green logistics. “We are working towards the development of eco-friendly services such as our ‘eco-drive’ initiative and will continuously roll-out more environmentally-friendly vehicles,” says Nakagawa.

“While we grow our business, we also want to be the driving force for social development, not only in Japan but across Southeast Asia,” says Takazoe. “Throughout the region, we want to earn our customer’s respect and ensure our partners associate the ‘Nippon Express’ brand with quality, total-solution logistics services”.

“Tokyo Century Corporation is aiming to be the best financing partner in the region so business owners can grow their businesses and promote their products without any major financial constraints.”

“There is a need for more dynamic financial products in Southeast Asia and we can deliver solutions”, concludes Yoshino “I would like to congratulate ASEAN on its fiftieth anniversary and we look forward to contributing to the continued prosperity of Singapore and the rest of Southeast Asia”.

TOKIN Headquarters, Japan.

“From a manufacturing and design standpoint, Southeast Asia is our most important market,” explains Oyama. “In 1997, we became one of the first Japanese companies to establish operations in Vietnam and more recently, we shifted production of magnetic components from China to Vietnam.”

From automotive electronics, industrial equipment, environment and energy and medical devices, TOKIN Corporation plans to serve some of the world’s largest companies.

“While fifty percent of our customers are currently Japanese, our relationship with KEMET Group will allow us to access customers in Europe and the Americas”, says Oyama.

Spring-boarding from the company’s regional headquarters in Singapore, TOKIN Corporation remains committed to Asia.

“We see tremendous opportunity in Southeast Asia”, says Oyama. “We are dedicated to strengthening our production and sales in our key markets across the region and will continue to meet the demands of our Asian and international customers.”