Japan firms see better Asia

Japan firms see better Asia

TOKYO (DPA): About 37 percent of Japanese manufacturers operating in Asia have predicted their host economies will begin recovering in the year 2000, the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) said Friday.

JETRO conducted an annual survey of Japanese-affiliated manufacturers operating in China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Although the largest group of respondents predicted their host economies will start recovering in the year 2000, the largest group in Indonesia, 36.5 per cent, predicted a recovery will not happen until sometime between 2002 and 2004.

JETRO said 63.5 per cent of the Japanese firms operating in Asian countries felt they were affected negatively by Asia's currency and economic crises as well as by rising costs of raw materials and weak sales in their host economies.