Suchergebnisse

The Japanese government is promoting overseas infrastructure investment especially in developing countries. The Infrastructure System Export Strategy formulated in 2013 by the government set the infrastructure investment target of 30 trillion yen to be achieved by 2020. Japanese overseas infrastructure investment has been increasing every year reaching 23 trillion yen in 2017. In Southeast Asia, Japan is still leading in infrastructure investment, but competitors such as China and Korea are catching up fast. Therefore, it has become essential for Japan to differentiate its infrastructure exports from competitors by leveraging the strengths of Japanese companies. In fact, the Japanese government strategy for overseas infrastructure investment has become more diversified, focusing on various and comprehensive ways to utilise Japan's knowledge and experiences for solving problems with urbanisation in developing countries.

The first plan to construct a High-Speed Railway (HSR) in Vietnam was rejected by the national assembly in 2010 due to its high cost. The government prepared an amended plan for the national assembly's approval again in May 2020. This paper analyses the profitability of the HSR project in Vietnam. Based on the estimated relationship between the population density of regions along the railways and the profit margin of railway companies in Japan, we find that passenger service alone would not make Vietnam's HSR profitable. The project should consider connectivity to suburban areas around highly populated cities and have a diversified business plan with 32 to 54 per cent of profits coming from non-transport sectors such as hotel, real estate, and retail. Moreover, we find that the HSR could be more profitable when it is extended to Phnom Penh and Bangkok as a part of the Southern Economic Corridor connecting Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand in the future.

This paper analyses the outlook for Japan's infrastructure investment in Southeast Asia as the region has become the primary destination for Japan's Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in recent years. Section 2 reviews how the construction industry in Japan has evolved in the post-war period until today. Japan's domestic demand for infrastructure investment is expected to decline in the future as its population is shrinking. This brings major challenges for Japanese construction companies that have depended on domestic demand. Section 3 discusses how the Japanese government supports Japan's infrastructure exports by promoting Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) and launching a Partnerships for Quality Infrastructure strategy. Section 4 shows that Japanese infrastructure investment in Southeast Asia aims to enhance connectivity to support supply chains, in particular, to buttress the region as a base for manufacturing production.

This paper analyses the profitability of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (KL-SG HSR) based on the relationship between population density and profit margins of railway companies in several countries. For the KL-SG HSR to be as profitable as the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central), for example, Kuala Lumpur will need to have a population of 20 million. Whether this happens or not, according to the rank-size rule, depends on the extent of regional economic integration and how urban agglomeration unfolds in mainland Southeast Asia.

Since 2011, under the Thein Sein government, Myanmar has started to build financial institutions almost from scratch. Japan has played a leading role in this transition, writing off debt, opening the Yangon Stock Exchange, vying for the entry of Japanese banks, and laying out finance-related laws. As in other Southeast Asian countries, Myanmar's oligopolistic economic structure and colonial past present considerable challenges. There is a rich literature on the relationship between well-functioning financial institutions and economic growth, but the causality of this relationship remains inconclusive. This paper examines the preconditions for financial institutions to be a vehicle for Myanmar's development.

This book brings together a set of analytical and empirical essays aimed at understanding inclusive finance in emerging markets focusing on Asia. Despite the significant policy interest in the issue of financial inclusion in the Asian market, there is a dearth of academic literature on the topic. This book fills this gap by being the first of its kind to address the relevant issues and policy concerns relating to the availability and affordability of financial services in this rapidly emerging geopolitical area. The book features a mixture of empirical and case study oriented essays, informed by data, literature and policy analysis that will be useful for both the academics and the policy makers in the region interested in the subject. Countries highlighted in the essays assessing financial inclusivity include Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India.

Japan's investment in the domestic construction industry has fallen to less than half its peak in 1992. Given the country's declining population, Japanese construction companies must go global to remain profitable. To what extent the Japanese government and Japanese companies can contribute to meeting the growing infrastructure needs in the region is unclear as Japanese companies have long been operating primarily in Japan. The Japanese government has in recent years passed a series of new laws that encourage private sector participation in financing, building and operating public infrastructure. Through involvement in such public projects, Japanese companies have developed the skills and technologies to build a variety of infrastructures that are resilient to natural disasters and adaptable to various geographical conditions and social and economic development. But the major challenge for Japanese companies is to transform their business model drastically from one that relies on the domestic market to one that contributes to the social and economic development of third countries.

South Korea's gross domestic product (GDP) growth was projected to recover to 2.3% in 2020 from 2.0% in 2019, aided by the recovery in the price of semiconductors. The manufacturing sector is South Korea's most important sector for the highly export-dependent economy. China remains the top trading partner, but Vietnam has rapidly risen to become the third-largest export and the seventh-largest import market. South Korea plans to be ahead in the fourth industrial revolution by investing in data technologies, artificial intelligence and bio-health. The challenge is to manage both its industrial transition and social welfare expenditure while the young population continues to decline.