https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east...tual_scroll_0&pgtype=article&campaign=3177874
Asia / East Asia
Japan manufacturers exit China, Southeast Asia to bring production back home
- A rapidly weakening yen, supply-chain constraints, geopolitical risks and changing wage patterns are prompting the switch, a Japanese steel executive said
- Even before the yen’s tumble this year, Japan’s government had been supporting relocation of domestic companies’ production bases back to the country
Japanese manufacturers are increasingly looking to move offshore operations to their home market, according to a Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co. executive.
The rapidly weakening yen, global supply-chain constraints, geopolitical risks and changing wage patterns are prompting the switch, Kiyoshi Imamura, a managing director of the steelmaker, said in an interview in Tokyo last week.
Among those moving manufacturing to Japan are makers of everything from car parts to cosmetics and consumer electronics, he said, with the trend expected to accelerate towards the end of this year.
It is quite telling that the entire article is unable to provide even a shred of hard data to support this click bait headline. Instead of showing us the numbers, the gist of it is basically regurgitating what Imamura, an executive from Tokyo Steel Manufacturing said. No hard data as evidence? Fine then at least tell us why we should take Imamura seriously - Is he someone close to government policy circles with access to sensitive information? Is he a national economic titan with great influence in Japanese business affairs? Is he someone who has deep experience across multiple industries beyond steel?
By the way based on Bloomberg info
https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/5423:JP this Tokyo Steel Manufacturing is just a medium sized enterprise hiring ~1,000 workers, revenue hovering between US$1-2 billion with a market capitalization of US$1.7 billion. Imamura is just one of the Executive Officers reporting to the President.
The closest equivalent in size company in Singapore is Sembcorp Marine. Imamura is equivalent to one of the direct reports to the President and CEO of Sembcorp Marine. If someone like that starts going on international media giving general statements about future Singapore business, government policy and investment direction, will you take him seriously in the absence of any data cited?