International News

The COVID-19 Outbreak In Many Southeast Asian Countries

Author : Bozhou Marine

Update time : 2021-05-31 18:14:11

The spread of COVID-19 in many Asian countries and the temporary closure of many industrial parks have impacted the global industrial chain...

Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced on Friday that a “total lockdown” will be implemented across the country from June, as the country’s new crown infection rate has soared to a record level.

In order to better prevent and control the epidemic, the Prime Minister's Office of Malaysia will enter a total blockade period of 14 days starting from June 1. The statement stated that from June 1 to 14, Malaysia's national social and economic sectors will be completely blocked, except for the key economic and service sectors listed by the National Security Council, all sectors will be suspended.

Although the blockade does not close the port, the efficiency of port operations and terminal operations will be affected, and foreign trade companies need to pay attention.

The epidemic situation in Malaysia has continued to rise recently. The number of new confirmed cases every day exceeded a new high for four consecutive days. On the 28th, the number of new confirmed cases in a single day exceeded 8,000 for the first time, reaching 8,209. If calculated according to the population ratio, Malaysia has 205 newly diagnosed cases per million people in a single day for a week, surpassing India's 150 cases.

Muhyiddin said in the statement that the occupancy rate of intensive care units in Malaysia has reached the "limit", and he hopes that the chain of transmission of the virus can be blocked through a comprehensive movement control order and the pressure on medical resources can be alleviated. Just before Muhyiddin’s announcement, Ismail, Ma’s defense minister in charge of epidemic control measures, has hinted on social media that the government has to adopt "not easy but the best way" to control the epidemic.

South Asia and Southeast Asia, with a population of 2 billion, currently account for half of the new confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia in the world. In addition to the already occupied India and Malaysia above, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and other Asian countries are also suffering from the impact of the new crown epidemic. The epidemic is also not optimistic. As key production and manufacturing bases in the global market, the epidemic in these places continues to ferment, which will have an impact on the global supply chain.

Southeast Asia, which has a sufficient labor force, is an important node in the global manufacturing supply chain. The arrival of the new crown pneumonia epidemic caused many countries to propose industrial relocation, or relocate the supply chain of multinational companies from China to South Asia and Southeast Asia, making Vietnam, Countries such as Myanmar, India and Thailand have benefited. But the situation is changing. Zhang Zhiwei, chief economist of Shanghai Baoyin Investment, believes that with the surge in cases in India and Vietnam, the supply chain may move back to China.

Despite the implementation of blockade measures during the Eid al-Fitr holiday, Indonesia's daily new cases have exceeded 5,000, and the cumulative number of confirmed cases is second only to India in Asia. Malaysia’s new crown virus infection rate per million people has surpassed India for 7 consecutive days. Vietnam, which had quickly contained the epidemic in 2020, was not spared this time. The epidemic broke out. Vietnam added 467 new crown cases in a single day on May 26, a significant increase, of which a large part came from the local provinces of Bac Ninh and Bac Ninh. samssung and Canon factories in Bac Giang province.

In addition, Thailand’s daily number of confirmed deaths from the new crown has also reached a new high. The number of new confirmed cases every day has been increasing since April this year. Although Thailand’s epidemic has not deteriorated significantly in the near future, it has already been found in the country. There are few cases of cluster infections of mutant strains of the new coronavirus, but the government has no plans to take quarantine measures. It is worth mentioning that although the Philippines, which is also a Southeast Asian country, has the second largest number of confirmed cases in Southeast Asia, it has not had a new round of outbreaks like other Southeast Asian countries.

Supply chain risks have risen sharply, and Samssung and Foxconn factories have been forced to shut down.

Against the background that India, the world's largest vaccine producer, is overwhelmed, Southeast Asian countries that have not booked the vaccine in advance may find it difficult to rely on the popularization of vaccines to curb the epidemic. Therefore, these countries will have to take longer and broader social distancing measures, which in turn will bring new risks to the already-worn global supply chain.

As a key manufacturing base in the world market, the epidemic in many Asian countries continues to ferment, which is obviously not good news for the global economy. Reuters quoted Vietnamese media as saying that Bac Ninh Province, where Samssung Electronics' production base is located, has imposed curfews and other travel restrictions since the 25th. Prior to this, the relevant departments of the neighboring Bac Giang Province temporarily closed 4 industrial parks, of which 3 industrial parks have Foxconn factories.

Foxconn's factory in India had also had a large-scale infection before, and more than 100 Foxconn employees were tested positive for the new crown. It is worth noting that the current five major global mobile phone brands-Samssung, Apple, Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo all have production lines in India or through OEM production, and their proportion is increasing year by year. The current output is still based on supplying local demand. the Lord

According to the current local production situation, preliminary estimates indicate that the output of a total of 12 million smartphones from the second quarter to the third quarter of this year will be affected, and the total annual output may fall by 7.5% as a result.

"Before the pandemic, the factories of big-name companies such as Samssung and Foxconn moved out of China and established new factories in India and Vietnam. But now, the surge in cases in these two countries has forced these factories to shut down," Shanghai Baoyin Investment Chief Economist Zhang Zhiwei said in an interview with CNBC. It believes that “China’s monthly export growth is currently between 20% and 40%. If factories in India and Vietnam can resume production soon, China’s exports are expected to slow in the second half of the year. But if the supply chain is interrupted for a long time, China’s export growth will continue until next year."

According to the statistics of the General Administration of Customs of China, the total value of China's imports and exports of goods reached 484.988 billion US dollars in April 2021, a year-on-year increase of 37.0%. Among them, the total value of goods exports reached 263.924 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 32.3%..

www.bozhou-int.com

Previous : MSC announces blank routes in Asia

Next : Congested Ports, Container Crisis