Grades and mergers
Study: China has an impact on ports of Southeast Asia
Countries like Vietnam are an alternative to the Chinese market. But China also controls infrastructure in the region.
According to a study, European companies are dependent on cooperation with China if they switch to markets in Southeast Asia. One reason is China’s control over ports of the region, as the “Transport & Logistics Barometer” of the auditor PWC Germany says. The German Press Agency has the study that examined the mergers and examined in the global transport and logistics sector.
In the medium to long term, the assumption that a greater independence of China is achieved through investments in Southeast Asia, said André Wortmann, head of the maritime competence center of PWC Germany in Hamburg.
China’s great influence in Myanmar and Brunei
According to the study, China gained through direct investments, mergers and take over strategic influence in Southeast Asia. Among other things, the project for the construction of a modern low -water port in Myanmar is the majority of Chinese control. The planned harbor in Kyaukphyu, which is intended to give access to the Indian ocean, is the central project of the Chinese investment strategy of a “new silk road”. A port in Brunei (Muara) is also largely checked by China.
China’s minority investments exist at ports in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. China also invested in ports in Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and in the Philippines.
Acceptance and mergers are slightly increasing worldwide
The study does not only deal with the development in Southeast Asia. In the global transport and logistics sector, the authors counted 199 mergers last year and took over, which had a value of at least $ 50 million (around 48 million euros).
That is six transactions more than in the previous year. Despite the increase, the number moves at a comparatively low level: Between 2018 and 2022, the authors never counted less than 223 transactions. Acceptance and mergers allow conclusions to be drawn about the dynamics of a sector.
The head of the Transport and Logistics division at PWC Germany, Ingo Bauer, expects mergers and take over this year. Investors aimed at dealing with the transactions of their industry’s problems – such as the lack of driver in truck transport.
dpa
Source: Stern
