Taiwanese PCB manufacturers expanding in Thailand face a challenge as new government rules require foreign-invested firms to have at least 70% local employees and no more than 30% foreigners, especially at mid- and senior levels. This policy, meant to boost local workforce development, may complicate hiring as companies ramp up production in the second half of 2025

Since US President Donald Trump championed the "Made in America" initiative, technological competition between the US and China has intensified, rapidly escalating global geopolitical risks. Overseas customers have successively adopted "non-China" and "non-Taiwan" manufacturing policies, driving a new wave of semiconductor supply chain restructuring. The future division of regional manufacturing roles is becoming increasingly clear

Singapore is positioning itself as a trusted AI hub through a US$740 million five-year investment plan while leveraging political neutrality and supply chain advantages to attract global manufacturers amid rising geopolitical tensions

As Vietnam prepares to roll out its carbon trading pilot program in 2025, TPIsoftware, a Taiwan-based technology firm, announced a strategic partnership with Ho Team Construction, the largest Taiwanese construction contractor operating in Vietnam. The collaboration will see Ho Team become the country's first construction company to adopt an AI-powered carbon inventory system, laying the groundwork for Vietnam's full-scale carbon trading regime anticipated in 2029

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s smaller affiliate Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp. may accelerate the chip production schedule at its new US$7.8 billion joint venture in Singapore on greater customer demand for hedging against geopolitical risks.
VIS may be able to push production at the new plant, which makes mature chips, to as soon as late 2026 versus the originally announced schedule of the first half of 2027, VIS Chairman Fang Leuh told reporters at a company event on Saturday in Taoyuan, Taiwan. VIS broke ground for the facility in the fourth quarter of 2024

The world's top maker of electric-vehicle batteries broke ground on a US$6 billion battery material ecosystem in Indonesia as the government pushes ahead with commodity downstreaming goals

Amid US export controls on advanced AI chips, Chinese firms are turning to Southeast Asia to maintain their AI development momentum. According to The Wall Street Journal, some Chinese companies have routed operations through subsidiaries in Singapore and Malaysia to rent Malaysian data centers equipped with Nvidia's high-end GPUs. These efforts reflect growing attempts to circumvent restrictions and meet surging demand for computing power

Baidu's Apollo Go autonomous taxi service is poised to enter Singapore and Malaysia by 2025, expanding its reach beyond China. The company is currently in talks with potential partners to establish commercial partnerships in these Southeast Asian countries, according to Bloomberg

The Vietnamese National Assembly has approved an extension of the value-added tax (VAT) cut, reducing the rate from 10% to 8% until the end of 2026 to support domestic economic growth. This measure, first introduced in 2022 to aid post-pandemic recovery, received over 90% approval for continuation, reports Reuters and The Investor

Chinese AI firms are reportedly utilizing AI compute resources in Southeast Asian nations to bypass US sanctions, exploiting regulatory frameworks that align with local laws and limit governmental intervention

Coretronic held its shareholders' meeting on June 18, 2025, successfully passing all proposals. The company expects that under its display business group, shipments of energy-saving, imaging, and immersive products will increase by 10-15% in 2025 year-over-year

Global Brands Manufacture (GBM), a PCB and EMS subsidiary of Walsin Technology, recently held a shareholders' meeting led by chairman Yu-Heng Chiao to discuss acquiring Japan's Lincstech. The deal aims to boost the company's presence in AI servers, semiconductors and expand production in Singapore

Chinese EV maker Neta Auto faces a severe financial crisis, raising concerns in Thailand, where it operates a local subsidiary. Neta claims its overseas operations remain unaffected, but Thai officials are monitoring the situation closely, according to the Bangkok Post and The Nation

Data center construction is accelerating in Malaysia's Johor state as Singapore charts a sustainable digital infrastructure strategy. Singapore's Infocomm Media Development Authority unveiled its Green Data Center Roadmap, targeting at least 300 megawatts of additional capacity in the near term while promoting energy-efficient technologies