東南アジアにおける本邦通運業者の通貨危機への対応－営業拠点配置および組織編成の視点から－: 沖縄地域学リポジトリ

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Title

東南アジアにおける本邦通運業者の通貨危機への対応−

_{営業拠点配置および組織編成の視点から−}

Author(s)

宮城, 真宏

Citation

名桜大学紀要 = THE MEIO UNIVERSITY BULLETIN(5):

_49-59

Issue Date

2000-12-14

URL

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12001/7962

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Spatial and Organizational Responses of Japanese

Forwarders in Southeast Asia to the Currency Crisis*

Michihiro Miyagi

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Abstract

In this paper, spatial and organizational responses of the Japanese forwarders in Southeast

Asia are reviewed for the one-year period from August 1997 to July 1998 amidst the regional economic crisis that began in July 1997. As shown in Table1, the annual growth rate of the forwarders' employment in the region plummeted from 20 per cent in the four-year period from 1993-1997 to five per cent in the 1997-98 period. There is a positive correlation between the four ASEAN countries' distance from Singapore on the one hand and the changes in average annual growth rate from the 1993-97 period to the following one-year period on the other. As to the one-year period alone, there is also a strong positive correlation between the distance and the change in the annual employment growth rate. Despite the economic crisis and the deteriorated growth rate for their employment in the one-year period, the forwarders steadfastly maintained or expanded their major operational bases in key metropolitan areas preparing themselves for the next surge in the regional economy and deregulation.

Introduction

A previous study (Miyagi, 1999) investigated the shift of lATA (International Air Transport Association) forwarders from Japan to Southeast Asia in the four-year period from July 31, 1993 to August 1, 1997. The latter date corresponds approximately to the beginning of the currency crisis in

"This paper is an expanded version of a paper with the same title read at the XIX Pacific Science Congress, July 1-6.

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Thailand on Julyl, 1997. That study demonstrated that Japanese forwarders had rapidly expanded their establishments and employment in Southeast Asia in the four-year period. In the present study, spatial and organizational responses of the Japanese forwarders to the decline of cargo volume following the currency crisis in the one-year period from August I, 1997 to August I, 1998 are studied.

Data and Description of lATA Forwarders from Japan

Major sources of data for this study are the surveys carried out by the Japanese language magazine Cargo in the summers of 1997 and 1998 ("Overseas bases of lATA forwarders," 1997; "Overseas bases of lATA forwarders," 1998). The magazine surveyed overseas establishments and employment of Japanese forwarders that were approved as air-cargo agents by the International Air Transport Association OATA cargo agents). Major IAT A forwarders in Japan provide a wide range of transportation and logistics services, but many small ones specialize in the air-cargo business. As a whole, lATA forwarders in Japan derive about one half of their revenues from air-cargo handling.

The term "establishments" used in this study includes Japanese forwarders' own offices in Southeast Asia and their subsidiaries' headquarters, branches, divisions, bases and offices in the region. The naming of establishments, however, varies with forwarders. Subsidiaries include joint-venture companies in the region. The characteristics of Japanese forwarders and their environment were reviewed in a previous study (Miyagi, 1999, pp.2-6).

Spatial and Organizational Responses of Japanese Forwarders, 1997-1998

The majority of Japanese forwarders entered the Southeast Asian market via Singapore following many Japanese manufacturers, the forwarders' principal clients. It was a good strategy for them to build up their regional hubs in the city-state as their major clients, superb transport, and other infrastructure were already there (Miyagi, 1996). An early supremacy of the city-state in the region may be glimpsed in the largest employment figure of 2,121 persons at Japanese forwarders' establishments in Singapore in 1993 (Table!). After solidifying their positions in the city-state, Japanese forwarders reinforced their positions in Malaysia and Thailand, which had formed together with Singapore the manufacturing core in the region (Itoga, 1994). Then forwarders' efforts shifted to expansion in the surrounding countries (Miyagi, 1999).

In the four-year period from July 31, 1993 to August I, 1997, Japanese forwarders in Southeast Asia as a whole expanded their employment at a very rapid rate, 108 per cent, which is equivalent to an annual growth rate of 20 per cent. As shown in Tablel, the annual growth rate of employment in the following one-year period crashed to five per cent, one-quarter of the 1993·97 period. Obviously Japanese forwarders in the region as a whole drastically reduced their expansion in the one-year period.

The growth rate of five percent, however, reflects the positive perception of Japanese forwarders that they have more opportunities in the region than in Japan for their business as a major part of the global cargo market. First of all, they see no major manufacturing concerns are exiting from the region. Secondly, in order to be competitive in the global market, they have to fortify their service networks in the region. Thirdly, all the Japanese companies are gearing up for the new consolidated financial statements including overseas group companies, which will be mandatory from the accounting year 2000. This accounting rule forces them to reduce the cost of components and products in transit and inventory in overseas subsidiaries, which translates into a gigantic logistics demand for forwarders (New consolidated financial statements, 1998). Fourthly, Japanese forwarders are anticipating an increasing volume of intra-regional cargo of components and products within Southeast Asia as regional integration continues with the progress of the ASEAN Free Trade Area and accompanying reduction of import taxes. Fifthly, Japanese manufacturers are looking at the region as one of the

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to--main production regions together with North America, EU, China, and Japan in the global market. In spite of the mid- to long-term optimism among Japanese forwarders, the economic depression is here. The forwarders in Singapore promptly responded to the crisis by reducing their employment six per cent in 1997-98. Compared with the average annual growthrate of 13 per cent in the preceding four-year period, the negative figure makes the difference between the two periods a large one of 19 percentage-points. As to individual forwarders, Sankyu expanded its employment by employing 15 more persons in the one-year period, Hankyu and Hanshin eight persons each, and MO Air five persons. As the economic conditions in the surrounding countries worsened, transit-cargo volume in the famed Singapore port decreased slightly, and the growth rate of transit-cargo volume in Changi Airport deteriorated. If global corporations serving other markets in the world had not been in the city-state, the decline would have been much greater. The Government of Singapore and government-linked corporations provided various assistance to forwarders as well as to other firms to alleviate their burden. They included a 55 per cent rebate on industrial property tax and various reductions and rebates on port tariffs, electricity charges and telecommunication services ("Govt acts," 1998). Despite these efforts, certain large forwarders had to reduce their employment (Hitachi Transport 66 employees, Kintetsu World Express 25, Yusen Air & Sea Service 14, and Nissin seven). Japan Schenker abolished its representative office in the city-state in the one-year period. Though the office had only one employee, the abolishment meant a retreat from the region for the firm.

In Malaysia the expansion in the one-year period (1997-1998) was a modest one per cent, nearly nil. The capital area including the new Kuala Lumpur International Airport sustained a five per cent decline to 1,778 persons constituting the major portion of the national stagnation. In sharp contrast to the capital region, the Johor Bahru area increased its employment from 442 to 531, an exceptional 20 per cent increase. Penang, with 371 employees in 1997, also enlarged its employment 14 per cent, reflecting the vigorous electric-electronics industries on the island. The Malaysian subsidiary of Kintetsu World Express, Kintetsu Integrated Air Services Sdn Bhd, opened a branch office on Penang in September 1997 with its own fleet of five trucks. The subsidiary had been outsourcing its logistics services on Penang from a local firm although principal Japanese and American clients had been demanding integrated services from the Kintetsu group itself. The Penang Branch, in cooperation with Kintetsu firms throughout the world, is now carrying out export and import operations for IC and other types of electric-electronics manufacturers from Japan and the United States.

In Thailand, the growth rate was a sizable six per cent in the one-year period, 1997-98. The conditions the nation had been encountering since July 1997 were ruinous though the average annual growth rate in the previous four years was far greater, 21 per cent. This six per cent growth was possible because of adaptive Japanese manufacturers since the fortune of Japanese forwarders in Thailand as elsewhere in Southeast Asia is dependent upon the manufacturers. Those exporting a high

Table1. Changes in Japanese Forwarders' Employment by Country

1993--97 and 1997-1998

Viet Nam Philippines Malaysia Singapore Thailand Indonesia Total July 31, 1993, Persons 58 1634 2121 1988 687 6488 Aug. I, 1997, Persons 40 490 3649 3502 4322 1503 13506 Aug. I, 1998, Persons 41 744 3687 3287 4579 1845 14183 1993-97 Change, % 745 123 65 117 119 108 Average Annual Change, 1993-97, % 70 22 13 21 22 20 1997-98 Change, % 3 52 1 -6 6 23 5

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proportion of their products are doing well, or even better than before July 1997, due to a more stable work force and lower labor costs than before the crisis. Rapid turnover of workers had been a major problem for Japanese manufacturers before the crisis. Work-place training often resulted in job-hopping by trained individuals.

Other manufacturers have not been so fortunate, and are struggling to survive the economic crisis by adopting various strategies. In order to ameliorate negative effects to their production lines from the sharp declines in Thailand's domestic demand, Japanese manufacturers were compelled to increase exports from Thailand. Particularly, producers of durable goods for the domestic market suffered devastating damage because of the financial crisis, which sharply truncated consumer loans in the country. Following are some examples of the export shift by Japanese manufacturing subsidiaries.

The sales volume of motor vehicles within Thailand, for instance, dropped 38 per cent in 1997 from 1996. The most positive measure taken by Japanese motor-vehicle manufacturers has been a shift to export markets from the shrunken market in Thailand. Other measures executed by the desperate manufacturers have been the reduction of operating hours at their assembly plants, reduction of operating days, emergency holidays, suspension of operation, and even complete termination of production in Thailand. A subsidiary of Mitsubishi Motor Corporation, MMC Sittipol Co (MSC) was producing vehicles at its two assembly plants at Lad Crabang in Bangkok and two plants in Laem Chabang, but the subsidiary stopped production except at the second plant in Laem Chabang, which produces pick-up trucks. The plants in Laem Chabang have better access to the modern Laem Chabang Port and more open space. A smaller manufacturer, Daihatsu, completely withdrew its assembly plant from Thailand.

MSC quadrupled its export to 40,000 motor vehicles in 1997 from 10,000 in 1996. The shift to export from the Thai market involved export reduction from Mitsubishi plants in Japan. Immediately after the onset of the economic crisis (July 1997), MSC began exporting pick-up trucks from Thailand to Europe and Oceania, which had been destinations for pick-up trucks from Japan. In 1998, MSC was exporting 5,000 vehicles a month, equivalent to 60,000 a year. The responses of other motor-vehicle manufacturers from Japan have been less agile than Mitsubishi's, but they have also been increasing their exports. In the electric machinery sector, a joint-venture company of a Japanese electric firm exported 20 per cent of its products in 1997. The joint venture raised its export ratio to 40 percent by June 1998, and was planning to increase the export share to 50 per cent in the fu ture. (Zeidokoro, 1998).

From a spatial perspective, the positive growth in Thailand in the 1997-98 period was mostly achieved by the six per cent growth of the all-important Bangkok area with its large number of employees, 3,211 in 1997. A major forwarder, Yusen Air & Sea Service, purchased an unused factory in the Bangkok area, and in 1998 transformed it into a warehouse with about 5,000 square meters of floor-space, of which 2,400 square meters were air-conditioned (Yusen & Sea Service, 1998). Another forwarder Mitsui Soko incorporated its third Thai subsidiary, Mitsui-Soko (Thailand) Co. Ltd., in January 1998 in the Bangkok area (Mitsui Soko, 1998). The Chiang Mai area, with 112 employees, showed an increase of 18 per cent (Table2, 3, 4 and 5).

The new port area, Laem Chabang, with 443 employees in 1997 registered a remarkable 15 per cent growth despite its relatively large number of employees. The expansion reflected a surge of activities in the new port and industrial parks around it The Port Authority of Thailand, which manages Klongton Port in the Bangkok area and Laem Chabang Port, has been encouraging shippers to shift their cargoes from Klongton to Laem Chabang since 1994 to alleviate extreme congestion at Klongton Port and city streets in the metropolis. Fortunately for the port authority, the throughput of Laem Chabang exceeded that of K1ongton for the first time in 1997.

In order to see the spatial and organizational expansions and their perception of their environment in the economic crisis, some examples of large forwarders are given below. The largest IAT A forwarder, Nippon Express Co., observed that economic conditions in Southeast Asian countries

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-were not good, but exports of products and parts from the region -were steadily increasing. A growing number of manufacturers were locating their plants in industrial parks nearby the port. Responding to the cargo growth, major shipping lines from Japan and other countries were increasing the size of their ships in the long-haul routes connecting Laem Chabang to ports in Europe and North America. Nippon Express also secured a lot in Laem Chabang Industrial Park, a bonded zone very efficient for both sea and air cargo handling. The giant forwarder stated in early 1998, "In consideration of the current economic conditions in Thailand, we are building a medium-sized warehouse this time. In the future we wiIl study an expansion of the warehouse as demand rises (Nippon Express Co., 1998 a)." In May 1998, its subsidiary, Thai Nippon Express Co., began construction of a warehouse in the industrial park, which was the sixth Thai warehouse for the parent firm, with floor-space of 5,500 square meters including office space. The warehouse was completed and opened for business at the end of August 1998 as scheduled. The new warehouse boosted the total warehouse floor-space in Thailand for the parent firm to 20,300 square meters, a big 37 per cent increase despite the economic downturn (Nippon Express Co., 1998 a). The most aggressive firm in Thailand in terms of manpower expansion was Sankyu whose employment in the Laem Chabang area climbed from 377 in 1997 to 470 a year later, and in the Bangkok area from 697 to 756.

Not all forwarding in Thailand, however, was connected to positive economic activities. Trade imbalance between Southeast Asia and the rest of the world resulted in a scarcity of containers in the region, which caused delays in export of goods from the region, in turn increasing fees for both available containers and the transportation of empty containers into Thailand. In another area, many Japanese workers and their families were forced to go home because of the economic disruption since July 1997. A major Japanese forwarder reported that during the period from October 1997 to April 1998, the surge of Japanese returning home caused a 70 per cent increase in demand for its moving service from Thailand to Japan over the same period a year earlier (Nippon Express Co., 1998 c).

After phenomenal growth from 58 to 490 persons in the 1993-97 period, the employmen t of Japanese forwarders in the Republic of the Philippines still increased at the very fast rate of 52 per cent in the following year. The high growth rate may be explained by the relatively smaIl employment base in the summer of 1997 and active investments by global companies in electric-electronics sectors of the republic. From a perspective of metropolitan areas, Cebu with only 31 employees in 1997 increased its employment at a high rate. The employment of forwarders in the republic is mostly accounted for by the Manila area, which still grew at a phenomenal rate of 49 per cent in the one-year period of 1997-98 (Table2). To cite an example of forwarder expansion, Kintetsu, as in Malaysia, switched its operation from outsourcing to its group company. The parent firm had established a Philippine representative office in Manila in 1991, and had been providing its logistics services through a local forwarder. In June 1998, however, Kintetsu established Kintetsu World Express (Philippines) Inc., and the subsidiary began operation on July I, 1998 with its offices in Manila, Cavite, Cebu, and Subic Bay (Kintetsu World Express, 1998).

Indonesia increased its employment to 1,845 persons by the summer of 1998, a noteworthy 23 per cent increase over the summer of 1997. It was the only country where the growth rate in the one-year period exceeded the average annual growth rate in the preceding four years in the region, though the difference was a mere one percentagepoint (Table!). From these statistics, we may say that Japanese forwarders in the country expanded their employment at about the same pace after July 1997 partly because the crisis in Thailand would not spread to Indonesia for several months.

Grounds for Japanese forwarders' expansion in the one-year period, however, were somewhat different from those of the preceding four-year period. First, spatial expansions from the capital area to other areas were more noticeable. For the first time, Bandung showed an employment figure in 1998 of 29 persons. Surabaya increased its employment from one to 14 persons in the one-year period. Secondly, the monopolistic position of Sankyu in employment was slightly diluted to 70 per cent by the summer of 1998 from 78 per cent in the summer of 1997 due to expansion of other Japanese

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Table2. Changes in Employment of Japanese Forwarders by Area, 1993-97 and 1997-98

Area July 31, '93 Aug.1, '97 Aug.1, '98 1993-97 Average Annual 1997-98 Change, Change, 1993-97 Change, Persons Persons Persons Percent Percent Percent

Hanoi 5 5 0 Ho Chi Min 35 36 3 Manila 53 455 676 758 171 49 Cebu 5 31 60 520 158 94 Subic 2 6 200 Bataan 2 2 0 Ipoh 11 33 34 200 32 3 Penang 203 371 423 83 16 14 Port Klang 339 798 810 135 24 2 Kuala Lumpur 944 1869 1453 98 19 -5 f---KL In tn 'I Airport 325 Melaka 25 68 45 172 28 -34 Bangi 46 63 59 37 8 -6 Johor Bahru 66 442 531 570 161 20 Kuching 5 7 40 Singapore 2121 3502 3237 65 13 -6 Bangkok 1778 3211 3397 81 16 6 Kabinburi 50 34 -32 Laem Chabang 154 443 509 188 30 15 Ayutthaya 2 468 451 23300 391 -4 Korato 2 Chian Mai 54 112 132 102 20 18 Lansito 22 19 -14 Nakhon Chaisi 16 15 -6 Djakarta 687 1501 1801 118 22 20 Bandung 29 Surabaya 1 14 1300 Batam 1 1 0

Source: Data for 1993 are tabulated from Table2 in Miyagi (1999). Data for 1997 and 1998 are tabulated from Table3 and Table4 respectively in this paper. The percentage changes in the three columns at right are calculated from the three preceding columns.

forwarders. Yusen Air & Sea Service in the country expanded its employees from 53 to 184 in that one-year period. In October 1997, Nippon Express also set up a joint-venture company with an Indonesian firm by investing 90 per cent of the subsidiary's capital (Nippon Express Co., 1997). The joint-venture firm in July 1998 opened a warehouse in the Jakarta area with 5,250 square meters floor-space to provide distribution services with its own fleet of trucks to Japanese manufacturers in Indonesia (Nippon Express Co., 1998 b). The initial aim of the warehouse was to improve Nippon Express's services within Indonesia; however, the company was eyeing international forwarding, expected to be deregulated soon. Another forwarder, Mitsui Soko, also entered the Indonesian market by establishing a logistics company in the Jakarta area (Mitsui Soko, 1998). We can say that deregulation trends in the country were positively affecting Japanese forwarders' spatial and employment expansions, which were gradually diluting Sankyu's monopoly.

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-t~.#~.i;1~.~CdO)m#~~-TABLE3. Number of Persons Employed by Forwarders from Japan

by Area and Firm, Aug.l, 1997

Forwarder' Vietnem Philippines Malaysia Sing. Thailand Indonesia Firm Total

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Airborne Exp. Japan 50 50

DHL .Japan # 1 2 1 1 5

Emery Air Freight Jpn 1 1 2

Expeditors Japan 1 1

Footwork Express 17 28 45

Hankyu Express Int'I 1 9 18 28 8 55 110 17 2 248

Hanshin Eloc Rail way 2 2 36 5 8 1 54

Hitachi Transport 59 11 145 269 291 186 50 10 1021

Honda Express 130 130

IEC Express 2 1 3

Japan Schenker 1 1 1 3

.1AS Forwarding (S) 20 20

Keihin Air Freight 22 22

Kintetsu World Express 1 2 5 15 161 15 31 393 307 1 1 932

K Line Air Service 84 16 61 2 14 106 153 78 514

Kokusai Sako 2 2

Konoike Air Cargo 20 20

Matsushita Logistics 33 33

Meiko Trans Co 24 7 31

Mitsui Sako 445 190 97 732

MO Air System 2 2 62 46 2 114

MSAS Cargo Int'I KK 1 1 1 3

Naigai Nitto 63 17 175 15 153 423

Nankai Travel Int'I 2 20 22

NEC Logistics 40 40

New Japan Air Service 16 16

NI Logistics (NIT) 4 1 1 6

Nippon Express 2 3 127 12 8 80 138 315 12 36 417 772 14 24 4 1964

Nippon Konpo 2 242 244

Nippon Trans City 5 3 18 6 4 36

Nishi Nippon Railroad 2 36 26 3 13 18 98

Nissin Air Cargo 3 3 50 14 135 179 46 12 22 16 480

Overseas Courier Svc 12 12 Overseas Aircargo 1 1 Sankyu 1 31 544 689 697 377 1178 3517 Seibu Transportation 2 2 Seino Transportation 5 7 83 4 8 72 42 221 Shibusawa IVarehouse 19 19

Sony Air Cargo 18 18

Sumitomo Warehouse 132 147 96 2 377

Suzuyo Air Freight 2 2 4 17 25

Taiun 19 50 20 89

Tatsumi Shokal 5 5 4 14

TNT Express Japan 1 1

Tokyo Aircargo 1 2 49 52

Tokyo Air Service 3 2 5

Tokyu Air Cargo 3 10 28 3 92 63 7 3 209

Toyo Trans 1 1

Unitrans # 2 2

Yamatane 1 8 3 1 13

Yamato Transport 13 40 40 100 193

Yamato UPS 2 2 4

Yusen Air&Sea Svc 2 98 19 2 2 15 199 165 188 9 63 53 5 264 236 44 53 1417

Area Total 5 35 455 31 2 2 33 371 798 1869 68 63 442 5 3502 3211 50 443 468 112 22 16 1501 1 1 13506

Total 13506

)Jote: The symbol"#" indicates that the forwarder is shown in the1997 table but not in the 1998 table indicating abolishment of its offices in the region.

Source: Tabulated from "Overseas bases of lATA forwarders: Expansion in ASEAN. China and Hong Kong Kong, and resurgence in Europe and \Iorth America." (1997).

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Table4. Number of Persons Employed by Forwarders from Japan by Area and Firm, Aug.1, 1998

Forwarder' Vietnam Philippines Malaysia Sing. Thailand Indonesia Firm

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Airborne Exp. Japan 50 50

DHL Japan # 0

Emery Air !'reight Jpn 1 1 1 3

Expeditors Japan 1 1

!'ootwork Express 17 22 39

Hankyu Express Int'I 1 33 28 28 8 63 115 18 1 295

Hanshin Eloc Railway 2 3 39 15 6 1 66

Hitachi Transport 121 112 130 288 225 152 34 \6 977

I'lollda Express 48 89 13

IEC Express 1 ]

Japan Schenker 1 1

JAS Forwarding (S) 20 20

Keihin Air Freight 56 23 79

Kinl£tsu World Express 1 45 4 5 5 15 48 15 31 368 243 1 1 782

K Line Air Service 70 4 17 59 13 108 109 16 69 15 9 489

Kokusai Soka 1 ]

Konoike Air Cargo 20 20

Matsushita Logistics 33 33 Meiko Trans Co 24 10 34 Mitsui Soko 3 445 190 97 70 805 MO Air System 2 31 3 57 72 2 ]67 MSAS Cargo lnfl KK 1 1 1 .1 Naigai Nitta 63 17 175 15 153 423

Nankai Travel Infl 1 4 20 25

NEC Logistics 43 43

New Japan Air Service 18 3 21

NI Logistics (NIT) 4 1 5

Nippon Express 2 3 127 12 8 80 138 167 48 12 36 417 772 14 24 4 ]964

Nippon Konpo 2 230 261 493

Nippon Trans City 5 3 12 6 4 .10

Nishi Nippon Railroad 2 27 28 4 13 18 92

Nissin Air Cargo 3 6 55 7 14 126 139 19 13 19 \5 416

Overseas Courier Svc 9 9 Overseas Aircargo 2 2 Sankyu 1 31 571 704 756 470 1283 3816 Seibu Transportation 2 2 Seino Transportation 1 4 10 176 7 11 71 44 324 Shibusawa Warehouse 1 19 20

Sony Air Cargo 18 18

Sumitomo Warehouse 37 72 9 8 21 101 248

Suzuyo Air Freight 2 1 4 17 24

Taiun 19 50 20 89

Tatsumi Shokai 5 I 5 5 16

TNT Express Japan 1 1

Tokyo Aircargo 2 49 51

Tokyo Air Service 3 2 5

Tokyu Air Cargo 3 12 18 16 5 92 66 10 2 221

Toyo Trans 2 2

Unitrans # 0

Yamatane 1 16 4 2]

Yamato Transport 16 23 24 42 102 2 209

Yamato UPS 2 2 4

Yusen Air & Sea Svc 3 143 40 1 2 17 205 135 2 14 11 59 106 7 250 242 43 184 14 5 ]583

Area Total 5 36 676 60 6 2 34 423 810 1453 25 45 59 531 7 3287 3417 34 509 451 2 132 19 15 1801 29 14 1 14183

~ote:The symbol"#" indicates that the forwarder is shown in the 1997 table but not in the 1998 table indicating abolishment of its offices in the region. The 1998 data for Nippon Express are the same as 1997, but they are used here without corroction.

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0

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Airborne Exp, Japan

K Line Air Service Footwork Express

lEC Express

Kokusai Sako Emery Air Frei/(ht Jpn

DHL Japan #

Keihin Air Freight Hanshin Elec Hailway

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Tokyo Air Service Tokyu Air Cargo Toyo Trans

0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 131 14 5 0 300 29 13 0 15 -2 8 16 o 166 707 Total 707

)Jote: The symbol "#"indicates that the forwarder is shown in the 1997 table but not in the 1998 table indicating abolishment of its offices in the region.

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Conclusion

Japanese forwarders steadfastly maintained their major operational bases in the one-year period from summer 1997 to summer 1998 in Southeast Asia despite the economic crisis. As to their employment, the annual growth rate in the region plummeted from 20 per cent in the four year period from 1993-1997 to five per cent in the following year. Obviously, Japanese forwarders as a whole drastically adjusted their growth, but they tried to maintain their employment as much as possible. The forwarders in Singapore responded quickly to the crisis by reducing their employment six per cent. The major reason for the reduction was the decelerated growth of transit cargo due to the economic disruption in its outlying regions. Malaysia's growth dropped to one per cent from 22 per cent. Thailand grew at six per cent despite its economic disruption. Indonesia grew at about the same pace, 23 per cent, as in the preceding four years. The Philippines expanded at a phenomenal rate, 52 per cent. As seen above, there is a positive correlation between the four ASEAN countries' distance from Singapore on the one hand and the changes in annual growth rates from the 1993-97 period to the following one-year period on the other. As to the one-year period alone, there is also a strong positive correlation between the distance and the change in the annual employment growth rate.

From a metropolitan-area perspective, we point out that the following metropolitan areas with relatively large base employment in the summer of 1997, Manila, Penang, Johor Bahru, Bangkok, Laem Chabang, Chiang Mai, and Jakarta, showed substantial growth in the 1997-98 period. As to employment by individual forwarders, certain forwarders expanded while others shrank in the region. Partially in an attempt to utilize idle employees in meaningful ways and to solidify their positions juring the economic crisis, Japanese forwarders upgraded their services and software. Some forwarders were even expanding their operational bases and physical plants in anticipation of a future economic surge and deregulation in the region. The shift of operation from outsourcing to their own group companies contributed most to the maintenance of their employment.

Acknowledgement: The author wishes to express his gratitude to Professor Caroline C. Latham at Meio University

for her editing the English in the manuscript. His appreciation is also extended to Meio University for supporting this study and its presentation at the XIX Pacific Science Congress.

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東南アジアにおける本邦通運業者の通貨危機への対応－営業拠点配置および組織編成の視点から－: 沖縄地域学リポジトリ

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