Southeast Asian wages rise, raising costs for Taiwanese businesses

東南亞工資上漲，台商成本提高

Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia and Myanmar plan wage hikes for 2018


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Basic wages in several Southeast Asian countries are expected to rise during 2018, leading to increased costs for Taiwanese companies following the government’s New Southbound Policy.

Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and Myanmar are among the countries with wage hike plans for the new year, the Chinese-language Commercial Times reported.

In Vietnam’s case, the increases would vary according to four major areas, with 6.13 percent as the minimum figure, valid for major cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and 6.97 percent the maximum, according to the paper. The changes were decided after talks between the communist government and representatives of labor and employers and would go into effect on January 1.

In neighboring Cambodia, the minimum monthly wage would rise from US$153 (NT$4,578) by 11.11 percent to US$170 (NT$5,087).

In the Indonesian area of Serang in Western Java, the increase in the local wage would amount to 8.71 percent, while in Myanmar, there were plans for hikes but they had not been approved yet.

Companies in Central Taiwan interviewed by the Commercial Times said they already paid wages higher than the official minimum, so they did not have to fear too much from the hikes. In addition, they had started on the process of automatization, which would reduce the impact of rising wages.