Being an enthusiastic adopter of technology, Asia has the environment to nurture more brandname firms that will shine on the global stage, BenQ Corp's (
"Everybody is expecting to see Asian brands growing and the region to become a technology powerhouse," said Lee Kun-yao (
In its second year, the two-day summit aims to offer a platform for Taiwanese and Southeast Asian industry leaders and government officials to discuss opportunities for regional collaboration in the information technology (IT) arena.
With the rise of a new middle-class with more purchasing power, and the price of technological gadgets going down, Asia is fast becoming the world's largest technology market, especially in Internet applications and mobile phones, according to Lee.
The strong momentum will be mainly driven by China and India, the two new rising economic giants in the region, he said.
China, which accounted for only 4 percent of the world's GDP in 2004, is expected to increase its share to 15 percent in 2025, and 28 percent in 2050.
India, whose global GDP was a mere 2 percent in 2004, is set to raise its share to 5 percent in 2025 and 17 percent in 2050, Lee said.
"By combining their GDP, these two economies will create tremendous business opportunities for us," he said.
Flourishing digital technology in Asia, meanwhile, will lower companies' entry barrier to develop their own brands, Lee added.
"If our products have a certain Asian content, they will entice Asian consumers as buyers here want to own Asian brands," Lee said, adding that Japanese and Korean firms have already established themselves as role models.
Sharing from the experience of BenQ's brand building, Lee said the company decided to venture into brandname business in December 2001, after operating contract-making businesses since it was founded in 1984.
The company was transformed into the world's No. 6 mobile phone vendor after the takeover of Germany-based Siemens AG's ailing handset unit last October.
Though posting losses for the two straight quarters ending March after the acquisition, BenQ said it is on track to regain profitability in the fourth quarter.
Apparently, the results of the merger seemed to have kicked in as BenQ's brand awareness in Germany has increased to 85 percent from 17 percent two years ago, Lee said.
"We are absorbing German DNA into BenQ," he added. "To venture into brand operation is not the question, but we must think of how to proceed gradually to become a significant player internationally."
Elmer Hernandez, the Philippines' Department of Trade and Industry Undersecretary, suggested that to develop Asian brands, there should be more synergies generated from regional human resources capacity building, IT infrastructure development, government support and public-private sector collaboration.
"There are many challenges to regional partnership and we should allow more cross-border IT product supply, movement of talent and push for higher commercial presence and consumption in other countries," he said at the summit.
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