MAYASIA BUSINESS OUTLOOK8JAPAN SEEKING TO PROVIDE SUBSIDIES WORTH JPY 15B TO SAMSUNGTRADE BETWEEN JORDAN & ASEAN INCREASES BY 42 PERCENT IN FY 22Based on a source with direct knowledge of the situation, Japan is negotiating subsidies worth roughly 15 billion yen ($110 million) to South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co for a chip plant it is considering establishing near Tokyo.According to reports, Samsung, the world's largest memory chip manufacturer, plans to build the facility, which will include its first chip packaging test line, near its existing research and development hub in Yokohama.The investment by the IT firm would come at a time when tensions between Japan and South Korea are lessening, as the US wants its allies to work together to confront China's emerging power in chips and other technology.According to the source, who declined to be named because the information is not public, the facility might cost roughly 40 billion yen to build, with the Japanese government subsidising about a third of the cost.According to Japan's economy ministry, no decisions on subsidies for Samsung have been made, and no particular proposal has been received from the firm.Japan's Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, is to meet with executives from leading semiconductor companies, including Samsung, on Thursday to strengthen multilateral collaboration.Kishida met with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul last month, the first such visit in 12 years, and the two leaders pledged to strengthen ties.Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker, constructed a research facility in Tsukuba, northeast of Tokyo, last year at a cost of approximately 37 billion yen, including 19 billion yen in Japanese government subsidies. In accordance with the Amman Chamber of Commerce (ACC), trade between Jordan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) increased by 42 percent in 2022, raising the exchange value to JD1.279 billion (around $1.802 billion) from JD900 million (around $1.268 billion) the previous year.Jordan's ASEAN imports increased to JD877 million (approximately $1.236 billion), with textiles accounting for the majority of the increase. Concurrently, national exports increased to JD400 million (about $563.784 million), mostly from various sorts of items such as textiles. According to the Jordan News Agency, Petra, re-exports amounted to JD2.5 million ($3.523 million).The chairman of the ACC, Khalil Haj Tawfiq, stressed Jordan's ability to strengthen economic links with ASEAN, the world's seventh-largest economy, with a population of 668 million spread across 4 million square kilometres. Diversifying exporting commodities and attracting high-value investments can help to strengthen the connection.In line with this, Tawfiq revealed that the ACC is planning a Jordanian-Asian business meeting for the end of 2023. The event's goal is to facilitate collaborative trade exhibitions and business contacts, hence strengthening ties between ASEAN and Jordanian entrepreneurs, industrialists, and traders.The General Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture for Arab Countries, as well as trade and industry chambers from Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Yemen, and Gulf Cooperation Council countries, will be invited to the event. NEWSROOM
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