Asian businesses will face fresh technological, regulatory, environmental and geopolitical challenges in 2024, not to mention the potential impact of key national leadership elections in the region as well as the U.S., a major trade and security partner.
Whether a Taiwanese company bringing solid-state battery manufacturing to Europe or a South Korean arms maker forging new markets in global hot spots, here are a dozen corporate names you can expect to hear more of in the year ahead.
TikTok: Indonesian e-commerce play draws attention in Southeast Asia
Chinese-owned short video platform TikTok's e-commerce business is trying to make a comeback in Indonesia, the region's biggest economy, through a $1.5 billion investment into what used to be one of its largest rivals, local superapp provider GoTo. TikTok announced in December that it will take a controlling 75% stake in Tokopedia, GoTo's e-commerce unit.
The deal comes after TikTok Shop was forced to halt service in Indonesia -- its first and largest market -- after the government banned e-commerce transactions on social media in September. The collaboration could potentially change the region's tech landscape, particularly highly competitive e-commerce.
But ByteDance-owned TikTok is facing greater scrutiny from regional governments, including Malaysia, which said it is studying the possibility of regulating TikTok and its e-commerce business.
For TikTok, its renewed efforts in Indonesia could become a touchstone as it seeks to expand its market share in the region.
Tsubasa Suruga, Singapore, Nana Shibata, Jakarta
SICC: Chinese company poised to reshape the future of power semiconductors
China is betting big on "compound semiconductors," particularly silicon carbide (SiC) chips. The material is renowned for withstanding high voltages and temperatures, making it ideal for crafting power semiconductors in EV charging and energy equipment.
Domestic demand for EV components fuels the sector, with Jinan-based SICC emerging as a key player taking on U.S. giants Wolfspeed and Coherent, which dominate the market in SiC substrate production.
SICC's rise comes as China looks to boost its self-reliance in the critical material within the semiconductor supply chain. Europe and China collaborate closely in this field, with leading chipmaker Infineon inking deals last year to secure SiC wafer supplies from SICC and Tankeblue.
The SiC chip market, though currently valued at more than $2 billion, is projected to soar to $14 billion by 2030, fueled by a 26% annual growth rate, according to McKinsey & Co. Despite its current tiny size compared to CPU and GPU markets, silicon carbide's strategic importance is undeniable, leaving SICC poised to potentially reshape the future of power semiconductors.
Cheng Ting-Fang, Taipei
ProLogium: Taiwanese company bringing solid-state batteries to Europe
Taiwan's ProLogium is best known for its solid-state batteries for small electric devices. But bigger versions, though not yet mass-produced, could be a game changer for the electric industry because they are seen as potentially having countless advantages over liquid-state batteries, notably those currently used in EVs.
But industrializing the technology requires generous funding for research and development. A few months after ProLogium announced 5.2 billion euros ($5.7 billion) for the project, Paris in August promised 1.5 billion euros in subsidies for a giant factory based in Dunkirk, which is becoming a European hotspot for EV manufacturing through various parts of the supply chain, attracting Asian and other international players.
Europe wants Taiwanese tech investments as it tries to reduce reliance on China for critical resources and goods. Moves by Asian companies are helping bring industry back to Europe.
Though the process is slow and the factory still unbuilt, ProLogium is steadily trying to break into the EV battery market, with cutting-edge tech that could possibly outshine rivals.
Mailys Pene-Lassus, Paris
Harita Nickel: Symbol of Indonesia's EV ambitions
Trimegah Bangun Persada, better known as Harita Nickel, is a leading producer of the metal in Indonesia. Backed by the Chinese nickel refiner Ningbo Lygend Mining, Harita operates Indonesia's first high-pressure acid leaching plant, processing low-grade nickel ore into mixed hydroxide precipitate, a feedstock for electric vehicle battery production.
The company in 2023 commissioned Indonesia's first production facility for nickel sulfate and cobalt sulfate, two further-refined materials for batteries.
Harita offers a rare glimpse into Indonesia's booming nickel processing industry, which is dominated by Chinese players, following its 9.997 trillion rupiah ($644 million) initial public offering, one of the largest IPOs at the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2023.
Environmental scrutiny into its operations and the arrest of a director of the company for alleged bribery of a local official underscore the dynamics affecting Indonesia's nickel industry. These include a recent deadly explosion at a nickel smelter in the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park controlled by Chinese company Tsingshan, price volatility and the rising U.S.-China rivalry in the green tech supply chain, potentially hindering Indonesia's ambition to use its nickel wealth to build a domestic EV and battery industry.
Erwida Maulia, Jakarta
Hanwha Aerospace: No shortage of arms customers for South Korean company amid global tensions
Hanwha Aerospace is aggressively expanding its arms business to Europe, the Middle East, Australia and beyond due to wars and geopolitical risks.
South Korea, which has long faced threats and provocations from North Korea, has over decades developed a world-class arms industry, and Hanwha is a symbol of that.
The South Korean defense company's market value jumped 69% in 2023 as the company signed billion-dollar contracts with Poland, Australia and other countries to export its K9 self-propelled howitzers and Redback infantry fighting vehicles. Poland is a front-line state in the war in neighboring Ukraine, while Australia has strengthened its military heft with support from the U.S. amid brewing tensions with China.
Hanwha's business portfolio goes beyond the defense sector and includes space rocket launchers and Earth observation satellites. It closely cooperates with the South Korean government in the country's space program.
Kim Jaewon, Seoul
PTT: Thai oil and gas leader diversifying to EV infrastructure
State-owned oil and gas conglomerate PTT is adapting to the Thai government's push for electric vehicles and moving away from its core business of fossil fuel development. PTT spun off its oil and gas retail business as PTT Oil Retail (OR) to manage oil retailing and non-oil business at its nationwide network of gas stations.
OR has diversified risk by increasing the number of EV charging stations. It is also investing in a mobility lifestyle business at its gas stations, including offering coffee shops, restaurants and convenience stores to serve clients charging their batteries.
In December, PTT approved a five-year investment plan from 2024 to 2028 of 89.2 billion baht ($2.5 billion). Of that, 30.6 billion baht was set aside for the natural gas business to secure Thailand's power generating system, while 27.8 billion baht was marked for diversification.
Among several 100%-owned companies was Arun Plus, which had joined hands with Foxconn to produce EVs under the Neta brand in Thailand. Commercial operation is due to start in midyear.
Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat, Bangkok
HashKey Group: A case for Hong Kong's new finance hub pivot
Founded in 2018, the Chinese-backed crypto-focused business HashKey Group showcases Hong Kong's efforts to find new selling points for its status as an international finance hub as its benchmark stock index sank for a fourth straight year.
HashKey Exchange, a major business for the group, became one of the first two licensed crypto exchanges in Hong Kong for retail investments in August. It has since garnered over 150,000 registered users, with turnover recently hitting record highs as Bitcoin prices surged for hedging against volatility in traditional finance assets.
But HashKey faces headwinds as a series of scandals at crypto exchanges in the city dent investor confidence. Eleven more crypto exchanges have applied to be licensed platforms, with one reportedly backed by Binance. Its founder recently pleaded guilty to U.S. regulators over money laundering.
The question for Hong Kong's regulator now, said Samuel Lok, HashKey Group's chief compliance officer, is "Can they handle four, five, six [exchanges]?"
Echo Wong, Hong Kong
Rapidus: Japan's chip contender aiming to jump ahead of established names
Seen as Japan's effort to hang on to semiconductor manufacturing capabilities it once dominated, the government-backed startup Rapidus has made steady progress building its first factory in Hokkaido. Rapidus is aiming to start test production by April 2025 and to mass-produce cutting-edge 2-nanometer chips by 2027, with support from partner IBM.
Japanese companies such as NEC, Hitachi and Toshiba led the global market in the 1990s, but then Asian rivals including Taiwan's TSMC took the lead. Japan's government has committed $2.3 billion to help Tokyo-based Rapidus secure a domestic chip plant and is planning to offer more.
Rapidus is forecasting increased demand for chips with specific capabilities, rather than general use ones, as consumer electronics become further advanced. This could result in more demand for small-scale manufacturing of specific advanced chips, the market it aims to enter.
It also says that an emerging architecture for chip transistors -- the "gate-all-around" arrangement -- could be an industry disruptor and give newcomers a chance. That gives Rapidus confidence that it could leap over top players in developing cutting-edge chip manufacturing technology while skipping existing techniques where it has little chance of catching up.
Ryohtaroh Satoh, Tokyo
SP New Energy: Using solar to lower power costs in the Philippines
Renewables developer SP New Energy Corp. is planning to build one of the world's largest solar projects on the Philippine island of Luzon. The country is plagued by high power costs, making renewables crucial, and is targeting renewable energy to comprise 35% of its total mix by 2030.
SPNEC was founded by Leandro Leviste, a Yale-educated businessman from a politically prominent family, and debuted on the Philippine stock exchange in 2021 as the country's first player in renewable energy.
The company is majority-owned by the country's largest power distributor, Meralco, a unit of infrastructure giant Metro Pacific Investments. Its majority shareholder is Hong Kong-listed First Pacific, which is controlled by Indonesia's Salim Group. These layers of financial backing fuel SPNEC's ambitious solar push.
SPNEC's massive 3.5-gigawatt solar project, pegged at 200 billion pesos ($3 billion), broke ground on the Philippines' biggest island this month. The company said in 2022 it was aiming for commercial operations of 8 GW between 2025 and 2026, potentially accounting for two-thirds of the Philippines' total contracted renewable energy by then.
Ramon Royandoyan, Manila
YTL: Working with Nvidia on Malaysia's first AI data center
After starting in construction, Malaysian conglomerate YTL has transformed over nearly seven decades into an infrastructure powerhouse. It boasted total assets of $17.1 billion as of September and has operations in Southeast Asia, Europe and East Asia.
Profit after tax jumped more than sevenfold to 940.2 million ringgit ($203 million) in its first quarter, which ended in September, compared to 123.6 million ringgit a year earlier.
Subsidiary YTL Power International signed a deal last month with U.S. chipmaker Nvidia to invest $4.3 billion to build Malaysia's first artificial intelligence data center, sending shares in YTL Power and YTL higher. Both stocks rallied more than 200% in 2023. The AI data center is expected to be operational by the middle of this year, and YTL's solar power station investment in Singapore will see a fivefold increase in power output to 5 megawatts.
New opportunities may also benefit YTL as Malaysia and Singapore seek to revive a multibillion-dollar high-speed railway project this year.
Norman Goh, Kuala Lumpur
Tata Motors: EV competitors bearing down on India's market leader
Tata Motors has emerged as a front-runner in India's fledgling electric car sector, selling 48,187 battery-powered vehicles between April and November -- 72% of the total.
Overall, Tata was India's fourth-largest carmaker by volume in the April-November period, after Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and the Mahindra Group. But while it has rapidly expanded in EVs at the expense of slower competitors, its dominant market share is under threat.
A string of EVs are expected to hit the road in the next couple of years from Indian carmakers Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra Group as well as global players Hyundai, Skoda Auto Volkswagen, Nissan and Renault. EV-only companies are also eyeing India. China's BYD has already started local operations, while Tesla and VinFast are on course to set up shop.
Tata, which focuses on sports utility vehicles, plans to respond by launching three electric SUVs this year. It is also upping its premium offering to challenge the likes of Tesla with a model named Avinya using the platform of its wholly-owned subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover.
Sayan Chakraborty, Bengaluru
Van Thinh Phat: Probe into developer closely watched for clues to government stance on corruption
Vietnam was shaken in November when police accused property developer Van Thinh Phat of embezzling $12.5 billion -- swiftly drawing comparisons to nearby Malaysia's 1MDB, which captured global attention despite a lesser $4.5 billion embezzled.
The company, which has not commented on the case, will be a bellwether for the one-party state's long-standing crackdown on corruption and its aftershocks in the fast-growing Southeast Asian economy. The charges capped a yearlong probe after the arrest of several executives and include accusations of bribes to state bank officials and theft from affiliate lender SCB.
Key questions are how the purported crimes were allowed to continue for more than a decade, as well as how authorities will unravel the complex financial engineering behind them. Though Van Thinh Phat is the largest case, multiple companies have come under investigation for misdeeds during the crackdown, from alleged bond misuse to procurement kickbacks.
One official told Nikkei Asia that the alleged fraud, estimated to equal 3% of gross domestic product, has come up in diplomatic talks because of Van Thinh Phat's cross-border links. Businesses will be watching to see how strong a hand the government wields as Vietnam seeks to show it is serious about rooting out graft yet also calm investors who are nervous about the slowdowns in real estate and financial businesses and stalled bureaucratic procedures.
Lien Hoang, Ho Chi Minh City
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