ASEAN: Regional Trends in Economic Integration, Export ... - USITC

strengthen supplier relationships. Many countries, including some of the ASEAN
countries, looked to expand their exports to other markets in order to maintain production
levels. ASEAN exports to Japan, for example, increased by 45 percent during 2004–08,
and the share of ASEAN exports going to Japan increased from 3.8 percent in 2004 to 4.5
percent in 2008 (table 4.3). Recent growth in ASEAN exports to Japan is also partly
attributed to the ASEAN-Japan FTA. U.S. firms that contract with ASEAN apparel
companies indicated that the ASEAN-Japan FTA provides an incentive to produce cotton
woven apparel in the ASEAN countries for the Japanese market. 37
As discussed in box 4.1, apparel-producing ASEAN countries rely heavily on imports of
cotton woven fabrics from non-ASEAN members (see table 4.2). 38 Nevertheless, some
ASEAN countries have seen significant increases in their exports of cotton woven fabrics
to other ASEAN members during 2004–08 (table 4.8). For example, Thailand’s exports
of cotton woven fabrics to other ASEAN countries increased by about 70 percent during
2004–08, fueled largely by increased exports to Vietnam, and, to a lesser extent, by
increased exports of higher-valued fabrics to Singapore (table 4.8). Malaysia’s exports of
cotton woven fabrics also increased by 42 percent during 2004–08, albeit from a much
smaller base.
TABLE 4.8 Certain cotton woven fabrics: ASEAN member exports to ASEAN members, by value, 2004–08
Country 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
% change,
2004–08
thousand $
Thailand 67,002 73,416 96,601 112,353 115,471 72
Singapore 50,136 45,803 29,330 29,602 29,727 (41)
Indonesia 36,799 51,975 41,639 25,333 28,626 (22)
Malaysia 11,738 12,537 14,313 17,963 16,677 42
Philippines
(a) (a) (a)
1,419 319
(a)
Cambodia 27
(a) (a) (a) (a) (a)
Vietnam 2,661 1,984 2,994 4,363
(a)
(a)
Total 168,363 185,714 184,876 191,033 190,818 13
Source: WITS, Integrated Data Warehouse (accessed January 5, 2010); GTIS, Global Trade Atlas Database (accessed
April 15, 2010).
Note: Data are based on exports. Brunei, Burma, and Laos do not report trade data, and the following countries did not
report data for selected years: Cambodia (2005–08), Philippines (2004–06), and Vietnam (2008). Trade between these
countries may therefore be undervalued.
a
Not available.
Competitiveness
Using export data to the world (excluding intra-ASEAN trade) as an indicator, Vietnam
has emerged as the most competitive producer of cotton woven apparel in the ASEAN
region (table 4.7). Over the last five years, Vietnam has more than doubled its exports of
cotton woven apparel to the world, from $1.0 billion in 2004 to $2.0 billion in 2008, and
is now the top ASEAN exporter of such products to the world.
37 Industry representatives, telephone interviews by Commission staff, March 22 and March 24, 2010.
38 For example, China’s exports of cotton woven fabrics to the ASEAN countries nearly doubled from
2004 to 2008 (table 4.2).
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