臺商與韓商對東南亞産業合作之比較研究

Comparing Taiwan and South Korea’s Approach to Business Operations in ASEAN: Vietnam and Indonesia as Examples

位居東北亞的台灣與南韓不僅都是已開發國家，且皆屬出口爲導向的經濟體。因此，兩國企業對海外投資的策略不可避免地會出現重叠的現象。過去台韓在中國市場競爭激烈，而今兩方又都將其海外投資聚焦於東南亞。在政策方面，蔡英文(Tsai Ing-wen)總統在2016年就任以來便積極推動含括東協(ASEAN)在內的「新南向政策」(New Southbound Policy)，無獨有偶的是，2017年5月文在寅(Moon Jae-in)就任南韓總統後於同年11月推出以人民、繁榮與和平三P為主軸的「新南方政策」(New Southern Policy, NSP)，東協與南亞即為這項政策的主要目標。
本文主旨即在以比較分析的方法探討台韓兩國企業在越南與印尼近年來的競逐爲例管窺兩國的東協政策暨在東協的經營策略。首先將分別討論蔡總統與文總統推出東協政策的背景因素與政策焦點，繼而比較剖析台商與韓商對東協的經營策略，尤其聚焦於產業別的差異，如台商在越南較偏重於傳統製造業，直到近年才朝智慧型手機發展，但韓商是外商中最早決定將越南構建成智慧型手機的生產基地。在印尼，台商與韓商的投資亦不約而同地皆朝向電動汽車(EV)產業，但台商較著重於電動機車，但晚近亦開始邁向EV，而韓商則一開始即聚焦於EV，圖將印尼建構成其在東協含電池在內的EV生產基地。結論將就現今台韓企業在印越兩國投資經營策略做一評析幷預測未來的走向與挑戰。

Both Taiwan and South Korea have accelerated their economic collaboration with ASEAN countries in the recent decade through what-so-called the New Southbound Policy and the New Southern Policy for different reasons. Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy is primarily politically oriented, while South Korea’s New Southern Policy is economically driven. In terms of business operations, initially both Taiwan and South Korea’s enterprises entered into Southeast Asia with an eye on labour-intensive manufacturing for its cheap labour, then South Korea conglomerates led by Samsung made a strategic move to relocate their technology production facilities exemplified by smart phones to Vietnam in 2009, following Vietnam joined the WTO in 2007. On the other hand, Taiwan enterprises did not start to build their technology production sites in ASEAN until 2019 at the request of their customers such as Apple in the wake of the 2018 Trump tariff war against China. This is particularly true in the Vietnam case.
In addition, in recent years both Taiwan and South Korea’s enterprises have paid their attention to Indonesia, given its abundant cheap labour, policy incentives as well as huge potential market. In particular, there has been a steady promotion of electric vehicles in Indonesia through government policy, such as reducing the value-added tax on some EVs from 11% to 1% starting in April 2023. The Joko Widodo government aims to promote domestic production along with sales by limiting eligibility to vehicles made with at least 40% domestic components. Against this background, both Taiwan and South Korea’s enterprises tend to focus on cooperation in electric vehicles, but so far Taiwan firms on e-scooters, while South Korea’s conglomerates on electric cars. It is relevant to their different investment strategies. Taiwan enterprises favour lower risk strategy, so they are cautious and risk-avoidance when it comes to investment. Whereas, South Korean conglomerates are ambitious, aggressive and bold.
In June 2022, LG Energy Solutions (LGES) broke ground on a nickel processing plant in Indonesia. This venture is part of the LGES’s substantial $9.8 billion investment in the country aimed at manufacturing EV batteries. Prior to this, in September 2021, LGES and Hyundai began construction of a $1.1 billion factory in Bekasi, West Java in conjunction to Hyundai Motor EV mass production in 2024. On the Taiwan side, in September 2022, PT Indika Energy and Foxconn launched a US$2 billion joint venture to make EVs, batteries, and energy storage in Indonesia. The venture will focus on manufacturing electric buses in its initial production and may move on to making electric trucks.
In the foreseeable future, Taiwan and South Korea’s enterprises are going to face different prospects and challenges. Driven by the implementation of RCEP without Taiwan, Taiwan enterprises are likely to increase their investment in ASEAN and face less challenges in the EV sector. On the other hand, South Korea’s enterprises are competing fiercely with China rivals. South Korea's share in ASEAN imported EV market is falling behind China rivals. During the period between 2019 and 2021, South Korea's share in ASEAN EV market shrank from 43.2% in 2019 to 8.2% in 2021. As a result, it has been dethroned by China, whose market share increased from 25.7% in 2019 to 46.1% in 2021. Another rival Germany ranked the second in 2021, while South Korea dropped to the third from the first place.