ASEAN tycoons to Japan: Pace up or lose out

BANGKOK/HANOI — The highest executives from main ASEAN conglomerates Saha Group and FPT have sounded a warning for Japanese firms in Southeast Asia: Go away your sluggish decision-making and outdated know-how behind or lose Southeast Asian alternatives to your Chinese language and South Korean rivals.

“Japanese corporations are sluggish in making choices,” stated Boonsithi Chokwatana, the chairman of Saha Group, Thailand’s main client merchandise conglomerate, which has quite a few joint ventures with Japanese firms. “And they’ll lose the competitors in the event that they proceed like this.”