Major trading houses' joint ventures soaring

Major trading houses' joint ventures soaring

TOKYO (AFP): The number of Asian joint ventures affiliated with six major Japanese trading houses is rapidly increasing, notably in China, where the figure is expected to surge 79 percent in the year to next March, according to a survey published yesterday.

Six major traders -- Mitsubishi Corp., Mitsui and Co. Ltd., Marubeni Corp., Sumitomo Corp., Itochu Corp. and Nissho Iwai Corp. -- are expected to have established a total of 522 affiliates in Asia by next March, up roughly 20 percent from a year earlier, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said.

An affiliate is defined as a company in which a trading house owns at least a 20 percent stake and is included in the group annual reports, according to the leading business daily which conducted the survey.

The number of affiliates in China is expected to rise from a combined 62 at the end of this March to 111 next March, the Nihon Keizai said.

In the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia Philippines, Singapore and Thailand -- the figure is expected to rise from a combined 267 to 297 in the same period.

In China, Itochu is expected to set up 19 group affiliates by the end of next March to bring the total number of affiliates in the country to 46, while Sumitomo and Marubeni are each expected to set up nine, bringing Sumitomo's total to 21 and Marubeni's to 20, the daily said.

In ASEAN, Sumitomo is expected to set up 10 more affiliates to bring the total number in the region to 56, Itochu to set up six more to 63, and Mitsubishi to set up five more to 30, it said.