Benefits of regional integration and expansion

The Asia Pacific region remains the world’s most dynamic and fast-growing region, and in 2015 this will be reinforced despite the many challenges the region faces. As the global economy continues to show signs of recovery, countries in the region are expected to see robust growth in industrial production and exports.

China will continue to be at the forefront with a projected 7.2% economic growth, while India is expected to post 6.4% in 2015, according to World Bank figures. The whole of East Asia is forecast to grow by 6.9% A major development in the Southeast Asian region is paving the way for the creation of a powerful industrial hub. With an estimated population of 600 million, the integration of the economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) by 2015 as planned will ease the flow of goods and services and reduce the cost of production for businesses. ASEAN is also set to become an attractive site for investors as the 10-country bloc, with the economic integration, becomes a single market and production base. Also, under the integration plan, tariffs on most goods coming from these countries will be down to zero or near-zero, and their financial systems will be integrated, while restrictions on employment will be eased. As this developed, the region is projected to receive huge investments as foreign companies move to expand their businesses in a bid to take a bigger slice of the huge market such integration brings.

The region's plastics and rubber industries are as robust as ever with production capacity and output contributing the biggest shares of global figures. By 2020, Asia Pacific’s share is seen to rise to more than half of global plastics production. Investments continue to pour into the region from the world’s major players resulting in intensified R&D and substantial rise in capacities.The market for engineering plastics, which Asia Pacific dominates at around 40% share, is projected to reach $76.8 billion by 2017 as demand in the automotive, medical, electrical/ electronics, and packaging sectors surges. In the global plastic films and sheet market, Asia is seen to post the highest growth with at least 30% slice of the global market. Asia Pacific also remains the market with the highest demand for injection moulded products with about a 40% share and annual growth of 5.1% to 2018. The region has also the highest registered consumption for automotive plastics, accounting for 52% of the global market due to the boom in automotive production.

International Plastics News for Asia gathered the insights of industry players on the trends and developments that would affect their businesses in 2015. Representing innovators in their respective fields, the interviewees give their valuable insights on plastics and rubber industries, and the directions they intend to take in the years to come.