Industry players on the future of Asia

After initially being hit hard like many other regions, will Asia rebound fast from the depth of the crisis? "Asia is now rebounding fast," said the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF report, "Regional Economic Outlook: Asia and Pacific," says the region is outpacing other parts of the world, with the green shoots of recovery appearing earlier and taking firmer root than elsewhere. However Asia's outlook remains closely tied to the global economy, and the key behind Asia's recovery was bounce back from the sudden stop in global trade and finance at the end-2008. This has fuelled a rapid recovery in exports, boosting industrial production and overall GDP, says the report. In the wake of the global downturn, Asian authorities' swiftly deployed packages to boost government spending, reduce interest rates, and stabilize financial markets. These measures were much larger than in previous crises, and in the case of the fiscal programs even larger, on average, than those introduced by the group of 20 industrialized and emerging market countries. "The vigorous reaction was made possible by Asia's relatively strong initial conditions: in many countries, government fiscal positions were sounder, monetary policies more credible, and corporate and bank balance sheets sturdier than at any time in the past," noted the report. A number of industry players shared with International Metalworking News for Asia their near-term outlook about Asia's performance, demand and speed of reforms:

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Rajiv Ghatikar, Vice President, General Manager Siemens PLM Software, ASEAN & Australasia 揂lthough the global economy is showing signs of recovery, companies should remain vigilant and continue to focus on cost rationalization and R&D activities. Consumer demand in the U.S largest markets for finished products, remain weak, and the slow recovery will not be an export-driven one unlike past recession. However, on the other hand, we believe that China's strong GDP will help boost an export driven growth recovery for Asia. As a result, Siemens PLM Software expects Asia's manufacturing sector in Asia to post gradual gains, with demand in the electronics sector improving. One of the major drivers is the adoption of lean manufacturing methodology as manufacturers seek to maximize their existing production capacities. Asia's high-tech electronics suppliers will also see the recession as an opportunity to accelerate their shift towards high value-add manufacturing, increased productivity and invest in further R&D across all aspects of manufacturing from design development to the factory floor. - Rajiv Ghatikar Sylvie Grandjean, Chief Financial Officer REDEX ANDANTEX 揜EDEX ANDANTEX is a valued supplier for both high-tech racks & pinions drives and spindle drive solutions to the Machine-tools OEMs all over the world. For the last two years, Asia was becoming a crucial part of the company's business, taking over more than 25% of the global turnover-- the forecast for 2009 is to reach at least the same level, if not better. Even if we felt a slight slowdown on the Asian market, according to the worldwide global economy trends, our results for the last two years within the Asian zone were reaching all our expectations. The local needs for high-tech components, such as ours, were never higher than today in China and Taiwan. Local OEMs needs more and more to upgrade their machines technology for being able to reach the highest standards of quality, which were until now the preserve of the European machine builders. REDEX ANDANTEX is so confident about the future development of its business in the area that the official opening of its brand new Asian service center is only a matter of few weeks from now. Located in Shanghai, this new service center will be the local equivalent of the ones already actiAir Jordan IX 9 Shoes