September 23, 2014
China to invest in farm machinery in Southeast Asia
China''s state-owned China National Machinery Industry Corporation (Sinomach) will invest in agricultural machineryin Vietnam and Thailand.
Sinomach''s decision to launch an investment programme in the two countriescame after the 11th China-ASEAN Expo in south China, where China''s top farming equipment manufacturers are exploring investment opportunities in Southeast Asia.
Liu Dagong, chief economic manager of Sinomach, said that members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) must improve the levels of mechanisation and technology in agriculture.
The agriculture sector, he said, contributes largely to the economies of China and ASEAN member nations. Vietnam alone exported US$27.4 billion worth of farm produce in 2013, accounting for around 20% of its total exports, Mr. Liu said.
"China''s agricultural machineryexports increased around 12% from a year ago in the first half of 2014, driven by demand from the ASEAN market, which has become one of the three largest buyers of the products," Mr.Liu said.
A Chinese tractor producer, YTO Group Corporation, has long invested in farm equipment in the region through joint ventures with companies in Indonesia and Thailand.
These joint ventures saw combined annual revenues of more than US$16.27 million in the past few years, reports said, giving the Chinese corporation handsome returns for its investments.