Japan's firms unprofitable

Japan's firms unprofitable

TOKYO (AFP): Fewer Japanese-affiliated manufacturers operating
in Asia were profitable in 1996 than in the previous year, the
Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) said in a survey
yesterday.

The proportion of companies which were profitable declined
from 68.0 percent to 62.6 percent, while companies reporting a
loss rose from 20.3 percent to 25.1 percent, it said.

JETRO carried out the survey from November 1996 to January
1997, covering 3,112 manufacturers operating in Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand -- all members
of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) -- as well
as the Chinese cities of Beijing and Dalian, India, and Hong
Kong. Of them, 1,205 companies responded.

As to reasons for choosing specific locations for setting up
operations, the leading response in the ASEAN region was
political and social stability, cited by 57.0 percent.