Hong Kong Industrialist Aug Oct 2021

Anti-epidemic Effort Determines Bargaining Power as Pandemic Surges in Southeast Asia 東南亞疫情緊張 抗疫能力成議價關鍵 T he Delta variant has caused the pandemic in Southeast Asia to take a turn for the worse in recent months. Following the outbreak in India, countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar and Malaysia have successively erupted and have shown no sign of easing up till now. Administrations have announced lockdowns or social gathering restrictions, while factory operations also need to be suspended. This has led to stagnation of parts procurement and as a result, causing a temporary shut down and reducing production to various car manufacturers. As a rising world factory, the epidemic in Southeast Asia has dealt a heavy blow to global economic recovery. Even though China and Western countries have stepped up their efforts to distribute vaccines to Southeast Asia, the vaccination rates in the region are still far from satisfactory given the huge population. According to Our World in Data’s mid-August figures, most Southeast Asian countries, except Cambodia and Malaysia, have only less than 20% of full vaccination coverage, where Thailand and Vietnam only achieve single-digit rates. With the Thanksgiving to Christmas and New Year peak seasons approaching, manufacturers’ ability to secure large manufacturing orders will depend heavily on whether the production lines or supply chains in Southeast Asia can maintain normal operations. The anti-epidemic efforts will become the pivotal element to business negotiation. Therefore, manufacturers adopting the “China+1” strategy should take immediate actions to arrange vaccination for their staff in Southeast Asian factories, formulate contingency plans for stable productivity, and review sourcing strategies to diversify risks of procuring raw materials and components from Southeast Asian suppliers. 近 月以來，Delta變種病毒的出現令東南亞的新冠肺炎疫情急轉直下。由印度開始，印尼、泰國、緬甸及馬來西 亞等國家相繼爆發，至今仍未受控。多國早前宣布封城或限制市民外出等措施，工廠須暫停營運，更導致零 件採購停滯，早前有車廠宣布因此停工及減產。作為冒起中的世界工廠，東南亞的疫情對環球經濟的復甦造成沉 重打擊。 中國及西方國家已加緊向東南亞輸送疫苗，但區域內人口龐大，疫苗接種率仍遠未達標。據Our World in Data的八 月中數據，除了柬埔寨及馬來西亞外，大部份東南亞國家的疫苗接種率不足20%，泰國及越南等更只得個位數百 分比。歐美市場的感恩節至聖誕新年旺季將至，廠商能否爭取到大額訂單，十分視乎東南亞的生產線或供應鏈是 否能夠維持正常運作，防疫工作的表現直接影響生產商的議價能力。故此，採取「中國+1」的港資廠商宜盡快安排 東南亞廠房員工接種疫苗，並制訂員工確診的應變計劃，以維持生產力穩定；並須檢視採購策略，分散原材料及零 件由東南亞國家供應所帶來的風險。 Executive Deputy Chairman 常務副主席 Sunny Tan 陳祖恒 LEADERSHIP VIEWS | 我觀我見 8 | 8-10/2021