One of Southeast Asia’s leading property developers thinks Donald Trump’s efforts to decouple from China will be a boon for his company and the region as a whole, even as the U.S. president threatens steep tariffs on countries like Thailand and Vietnam.
In an earnings briefing on Friday, Frasers Property CEO Panote Sirivadhanabhakdi portrayed deglobalization as a possible opportunity as, in such a world, “Southeast Asian markets still continue to be attractive.” Chinese interest in Thailand “to diversify and expand for the Southeast Asia market is still there,” he said.
Demand for Thai industrial real estate is still present, thanks to “China plus one” restructuring of supply chains, as manufacturers move to Thailand and use the country as a base to serve the wider non-Chinese market.
One such development is Araya, a business park just outside Bangkok which Frasers Property has a stake in. Araya, also known as “the Eastern Gateway”, is a bid to bring high-end manufacturing to Thailand. Announced in February, the project spans about 740 hectares and will house an industrial tech campus, a logistics park, and residential options.
“Generally, the demand is still there. Those tenants that we are talking to are still focused on shifting their factories to Thailand,” Lim Hua Tiong, CEO of emerging markets, Asia, said. “Not all factors are affected by the tariffs.”
Lim added that, with high U.S. tariffs on China, Southeast Asia will remain an attractive option for Chinese manufacturers.
So far, the German semiconductor Infineon has been confirmed as one of the park’s tenants. Delta Electronics (Thailand), a subsidiary of Taiwanese firm Delta Electronics, has acquired land in Araya.
Frasers Property’s earnings
While Frasers Property is best known for its malls and residential projects, the industrial, logistics and business park segment makes up just over half of the firm’s property assets. Frasers Property’s complete property portfolio is worth 34.2 billion Singapore dollars ($26.3 billion).
Still, residential properties drove Frasers Property’s revenue for the six months ending March 31. The firm reported revenue of 1.59 billion Singapore dollars ($1.22 billion), up 2.7% from the same period a year ago, driven by higher residential contributions from Singapore.
Profit attributable to the company rose 147.6% to reach 142.2 million Singapore dollars ($109.4 million).
