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.