KKR sees firms investing in Southeast Asia becoming trade war winners

The 10-economy Asean bloc is seen as a natural magnet for new factories, thanks to low production costs and improving infrastructure

KKR & Co. is seeking to invest more in Southeast Asia, where companies are poised to benefit from the US-China trade dispute, according to the private equity firm’s co-founder Henry Kravis.
 

“The longer that the dispute with China and the US goes on, I think you are going to see more opportunities” for investment in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Kravis said in an interview in Kuala Lumpur last week. The openings “come up where companies are saying: ‘I need to diversify my supply chain”’ as a result of the trade dispute, Kravis added.

The 10-economy Asean bloc is