It was my privilege to be a speaker at SCMP 2025 Hong Kong Asean Summit. I heard his vision of Hong Kong’s role as a super conductor between China and Asean from Chief Executive John Lee, where not only is there an exchange of people and capital but ideas. The Filipino Undersecretary for Industry challenged us to think of a world where Hong Kong engineered products produced in the Philippines delivered duty free within ASEAN direct to consumers where payment is received using a Hong Kong developed Fintech App. The Malaysian Minister of Transport proposed Selangor as the transport hub in the heart of ASEAN connected by air, sea, land. This discussion was framed by the ongoing trade war the USA has declared on long term partners and now Asean realizes only through unity can there be strength.
我有幸参加 2025 年香港东盟峰会并发表了演讲。菲律宾工业部副部长向我们提出了一个设想前提，即在菲律宾生产香港制造的产品，这些产品在东盟内部免税直接送达消费者手中，付款方式则是通过香港开发的金融科技应用程序完成。马来西亚交通部长提议将雪兰莪州作为东盟核心地区的交通枢纽，通过航空、海运和陆路相连。这场讨论是在美国对长期合作伙伴发起贸易战这一持续进行的背景下展开的，而如今东盟也意识到，只有团结一致才能拥有力量。
I explained Strategic Sports explored ASEAN locations in 2008 when the RMB appreciated and labor costs began to rise but the ASEAN nations we visited were not viable due to supply chain and infrastructure challenges. That is why in 2013, we turned to Portugal as a strategy of being closer to clients rather than chasing cheaper labor. But with Trump’s election in 2016, we had additional impetus of tariffs and restarted our ASEAN pivot. We decided on Vietnam due to many of our friends were already in Vietnam and compared to 2008, Vietnam had matured into a booming industrial scene due to the move of garments and shoe manufacturers there. However, with Biden’s election, I had hoped for a withdrawal of the Trump tariffs but this did not happen, so I realized tariffs had become part of American foreign policy. We went full speed ahead in purchasing additional land and began construction. Helmet production manufactured and shipped from Vietnam quickly followed. With the advent of Trump 2.0, I expected demand from American customers would boom but this did not materialize due to continuing over supply challenges remaining from the Post Covid era plus what I call “Tariff Hesitancy” – as Trump vacillated between tariff rates, many American clients delayed orders as they remained hopeful that Trump would lower the China rate. With demand from American customers dropping 30% from 2024 to 2025 (with 2024 already a historically low year), Strategic Sports determined on a further ASEAN pivot: not only to manufacture in ASEAN but to focus on distribution and marketing within ASEAN. With a population of nearly 700 million and GDP at 3.8 trillion dollars, ASEAN itself would be the future market for cycling, motorcycle and EVs. Vietnam also enjoys a free trade agreement with India whose booming middle class is generating a GDP of $4.19 trillion.
2008 年，当人民币升值且劳动力成本开始上涨时，我们公司开始考察东盟地区。然而，我们所拜访的那些东盟国家由于供应链和基础设施方面的问题，并不适合开展业务。因此，在 2013 年，我们转而选择葡萄牙，这一选择是出于更贴近客户的战略考虑，而非为了寻求更低廉的劳动力成本。但随着 2016 年特朗普当选总统，我们又有了关税增加的额外压力，于是重新启动了对东盟地区的布局。我们最终选择了越南，因为我们的许多合作伙伴已经在越南开展业务。与 2008 年相比，越南已经发展成为了一个繁荣的工业区，因为那里很早就有服装和鞋类制造商的迁移。然而，随着拜登当选，我原本希望特朗普的关税政策能够撤销，但这一愿望并未实现，于是我意识到关税已成为美国外交政策的一部分。于是，我们加快了购买土地的进程，并开始施工。随后，从越南生产的头盔也迅速投入生产并运往世界各地。随着特朗普政策的“2.0 版”的出台，我原本预期美国客户的订单量会大幅增长，但实际情况并非如此。这是因为疫情后的持续供应过剩问题依然存在，再加上我所说的“关税犹豫”现象——由于特朗普在关税税率上摇摆不定，许多美国客户推迟了订单，因为他们仍抱有特朗普会降低对中国的关税的希望。从 2024 年到 2025 年，美国客户的订单量下降了 30%（2024 年已经是历史最低年份），韬略因此决定进一步向东盟地区转移：不仅要在东盟地区进行生产，还要专注于在东盟地区的分销和营销。东盟地区拥有近 7 亿人口和 3.8 万亿美元的国内生产总值，它本身将成为自行车、摩托车和电动汽车的未来市场。越南还与印度签订了自由贸易协定，印度不断壮大的中产阶级正在创造 4.19 万亿美元的国内生产总值。
的确，我想象着这样一个未来：在香港设计一款安全帽，然后在越南生产，再通过东盟内部的关税减免政策实现免费运输，最后通过在香港开发的应用程序完成支付！
Hong Kong ASEAN Summit
People First
Strategics Sports Ltd
Norman Cheng