- The development of the new situation requires us to learn more and pay attention to the PCB industry in Southeast Asia.
Southeast Asia is a new region name that only appeared in the late World War II. It has 11 countries: Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, Philippines, Timor-Leste, with an area of about 4.57 million square kilometers and a population of about 560 million.
In November 2012, the World OECD (OECD) released a forecast report on the economic development of Southeast Asian countries in the next five years. The report pointed out that the increase in internal investment and private consumption has reduced the dependence of Southeast Asian countries on exports. The region is expected to maintain steady growth in the next five years, with an average growth rate of about 5.5%. The report analyzes that the European debt crisis and the economic slowdown of developed countries have limited impact on Southeast Asian countries. Southeast Asian countries have a healthy economic structure. Not only do they not have the financial and population burdens of developed countries, they can also support domestic demand growth through a large amount of public expenditure and the young population, while attracting foreign investment. Many favorable factors will continue to consolidate Southeast Asia’s medium-term economic growth. Among them, Indonesia is expected to grow fastest, with an average growth of 6.4% from 2013 to 2017. This is mainly due to Indonesia’s current efforts to attract foreign investment and aggressively implement infrastructure and economic reforms. This is followed by the Philippines, which is expected to grow 5.5%. Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore have lower growth expectations, which can increase by 5.1%, 5.1%, and 3.1%, respectively, mainly because their market development has reached a certain stage, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to increase productivity. The OECD also warned in particular that Vietnam ’s overall economy is weak and inflation is high, and there are “significant downside risks”.
We need to note that in the past one or two years, due to changes in the world ’s economy and politics, Southeast Asian countries have made new progress and changes in attracting foreign investment in the electronic information industry and the PCB industry. Although the floods in Thailand from September to November 2011 slowed down the development of the PCB industry in Southeast Asia and severely affected the normal economic operation of many Southeast Asian companies, their investment environment and market potential gradually showed that they are better than the mainland of China. . This makes the current intention of Japanese PCB companies to invest and develop the PCB industry in Southeast Asia even more unabated. Jiexiong Zhongyuan, a senior expert in the world’s PCB industry and market research, mentioned in a recent article: In order to avoid future risks, Japanese manufacturers have stopped investing in mainland China and have shifted their main focus of investment to Southeast Asian countries. . The biggest beneficiaries of this move in Southeast Asia are the Philippines and Vietnam. Some Japanese companies believe that the Philippines has a young, English-speaking cheap labor market, but may also face changing policy and bureaucratic issues. In addition to the Philippines, Vietnam is certainly one of the beneficiaries. Vietnam is the only Southeast Asian country comparable to China in terms of high-quality labor. As a result, Vietnam became the largest and most prosperous year for Japanese companies to invest and develop in this country in 2011.
It is also worth noting the new trends in the PCB industry in China and Taiwan. They also have a strong interest in investing in Southeast Asia, and this trend is still heating up. At the end of July 2012, a larger inspection and exchange group organized by the Taiwanese Printed Circuit Industry Association of China went to Thailand. In recent years, the downstream market for PCBs in Southeast Asia is expanding rapidly. In terms of developing the PCB industry, it has continued to use rich investment policies to welcome Japanese, Taiwanese, Korean and other investment companies to settle down. This has also made our domestic PCB Manufacturers of related materials and equipment have a new interest in investing here. If it is said that from 2007 to 2008 in China’s PCB industry, there was an “enthusiasm” and “concern” in this area of investment. Then in 2012, this “hot spot” set off a second time. . The changes in the world PCB industry market, layout, competitive characteristics, survival and development environment require us to know more and pay attention to the current status of the PCB industry in Southeast Asia. This is also the original intention of the author to write this article. - Overview of PCB Industry Development in Southeast Asia
The PCB industry in Southeast Asia was mainly established in the early and mid-1990s by large-scale PCB companies in Japan and the United States investing and establishing factories here.The PCB industry in Hong Kong, China, and Singapore was rapidly developing and Investment in Southeast Asia has also affected the initial development of PCBs in many Southeast Asian countries. In Southeast Asia, with the continuous development of Southeast Asia’s electronics and electrical product manufacturing and assembly industries in the past 30 years, it has now become one of the important bases for the production and consumption of PCBs in the world.
In Southeast Asia, there are mainly six countries engaged in the PCB and its main raw materials (including copper foil, copper clad laminate, dry film, etc.). The proportion of their PCB sales in this region is shown in (Figure). Among them, Thailand is the leader. In 2010, its PCB sales accounted for 39.8% of the total PCB sales in Southeast Asia (based on IPC statistics). Followed by Singapore and Malaysia. According to IPC statistics: In 2010, Southeast Asia PCB sales (see table) accounted for 13.4% of the world’s total, which was 1.9 times the North American PCB sales in the same year and 2.6 times the European sales.
