UOB sets up team for Japanese companies in Southeast Asia

UOB has set up a dedicated team to help Japanese businesses seize new opportunities and expand in the region.

Having observed the increased inter- and intra-regional trade flows and the opportunities the trends opened up for businesses, UOB was the first bank in Singapore to establish an FDI Advisory Unit, in 2011. Since the newest team was set up at the end of last year to serve Japanese companies, the deposit flow from UOB’s Japanese clients in the first quarter of 2016 was more than 80 per cent of that from all its Japanese clients in 2015.

Sam Cheong, the unit’s group head, said Japanese companies seeking to grow their businesses were turning in the direction of Southeast Asia. They are largely driven by the constraints in their own domestic market – a muted economy, rising business costs and an ageing population. These contrast almost starkly with the pull of Southeast Asia’s growing economies and a young, rising middle class that is driving up consumption.

“While large Japanese companies have traditionally been one of Southeast Asia’s largest investors, over the past few months, we have been seeing increasing interest in the region’s markets from small and medium-sized Japanese enterprises. Southeast Asian countries too have also been keen to attract Japanese SMEs for their innovation and research and development expertise,” he said.

The Japanese SMEs that the FDI Advisory Unit has assisted in expanding into and within the region are mainly in the automotive, food and beverage, electronics, professional-services and information-technology sectors. 

UOB received approval last year from Japan’s Foreign Bank Agency Business regime to offer its range of regional financial products and services in the country. This regulatory approval allows the bank to extend its regional FDI advisory services to assist Japanese companies venturing out of Japan. 

It also works closely with Japan Finance Corporation and other strategic partners in that country to help Japanese SMEs explore business and investment opportunities in Southeast Asia.