White Paper Shaping ASEANs Future Readiness Collaborations to Advance Manufacturing and Production

The report argues that ASEAN must shift from country-specific strategies to multilateral collaboration to maintain manufacturing competitiveness. It identifies six priority initiatives—including 3D prototyping centres, smart packaging, and digital logistics—to help the region's SMEs and priority industries adapt to the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

• ASEAN's manufacturing sector, valued at nearly $600 billion in value added and accounting for over 20% of the region's GDP, faces risks from the Fourth Industrial Revolution, including shifting global value chains and the need for higher labour productivity.
• Member states exhibit varying levels of readiness for the future of production, categorized into three archetypes: Leading (Singapore and Malaysia), Legacy (Thailand and the Philippines), and Nascent (Indonesia, Viet Nam and Cambodia).
• Small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which comprise an estimated 70-90% of ASEAN manufacturing companies, are particularly vulnerable and require proactive interventions to strengthen their capabilities.
• The report identifies five strategic industries as ideal for regional collaboration due to their economic significance and distribution across countries: electronic components, packaged foods, motor vehicles, pharmaceuticals, and auto parts and accessories.
• Six priority collaboration initiatives are proposed for immediate action: establishing 3D printing and prototyping centres of excellence, developing smart packaging, supporting digital logistics, creating a Fourth Industrial Revolution academy for SMEs, launching a circular economy platform for sustainable manufacturing, and creating seamless data exchanges.
• The region faces significant challenges in sustainability and data flow, noting that 3 million tons of e-waste accumulated in ASEAN in 2017 and that varying digital infrastructures lead to differences in cargo processing times.

APA

World Economic Forum (2018). White Paper Shaping ASEANs Future Readiness Collaborations to Advance Manufacturing and Production. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WP_Shaping_ASEAN_Future_Readiness_report_2018.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. White Paper Shaping ASEANs Future Readiness Collaborations to Advance Manufacturing and Production. 2018. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WP_Shaping_ASEAN_Future_Readiness_report_2018.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=White Paper Shaping ASEANs Future Readiness Collaborations to Advance Manufacturing and Production |date=September 2018 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WP_Shaping_ASEAN_Future_Readiness_report_2018.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2018white, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{White Paper Shaping ASEANs Future Readiness Collaborations to Advance Manufacturing and Production}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2018}, month = sep, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WP_Shaping_ASEAN_Future_Readiness_report_2018.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }