Asian exporters' reliance on Japan fades

Asian exporters' reliance on Japan fades

TOKYO (AFP): While Japanese exporters grow increasingly dependent on Asian markets, exporters in Asia are relying less on Japan as they sell more merchandise to each other, according to a finance ministry survey.

The survey, covering trade in the context of international financial flows, found the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had particularly reduced dependency on the Japanese market. ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

At the same time, ASEAN exporters are relying more on markets in the newly-industrialized economies (NIEs) of South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore (which is included in both groups).

The NIEs are also reducing their dependence on the Japanese market, largely in favor of the booming Chinese market which has been sucking in a growing share of NIE exports in recent years.

In 1980, Japan accounted for 22.9 percent of the combined exports of Brunei, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand, the survey showed. By 1992, Japan's share had fallen to 13 percent and is estimated to have dropped further to 12.5 percent last year.

For ASEAN countries alone, the Japanese share of total exports plunged from 29.6 percent in 1980 to 17 percent in 1992. During the same period, Japan's share of NIE exports dropped from 9.7 percent to 8.5 percent.

The survey showed the ASEAN countries have grown more dependent on the NIE markets which accounted for 20 percent of their exports in 1992, up from 13.2 percent in 1980. Intra-ASEAN trade has also increased, with ASEAN countries absorbing 18.4 percent of the group's exports, up from 16.7 percent.

China is also increasing its importance as a destination for ASEAN exports, with its share growing from only one percent in 1980, when Indonesia, the biggest ASEAN economy, had no diplomatic relations with China, to 2.9 percent.

The NIEs have meanwhile sharply increased their dependence on the Chinese market which accounted for 16.5 percent of their exports in 1992, up from 2.7 percent in 1980. Intra-NIE trade has also expanded with 9.6 percent of all exports going to other NIEs, up from seven percent.

But the four countries have grown less dependent on ASEAN markets, which accounted for 10.8 percent of their exports in 1992, down from 13.3 percent.